


MAG 26.5: Beach Episode

by Russianblu



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Autistic Sahsa James, Beach Episode, Bisexual Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Canon Asexual Character, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Worms (The Magnus Archives), Day At The Beach, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Has ADHD, Light Angst, Martin Blackwood Has ADHD, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Neurodivergent Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, POV Sasha James, Polyamorous Magnus Archives Ensemble, Polyamorous Martin Blackwood/Sasha James/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Tim Stoker Has ADHD (The Magnus Archives), Trans Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Trans Martin Blackwood, Trans Sasha James, Trans Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), martin and tim are both jewish thats the law, no spoilers for anything s2 onwards, season one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27882746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Russianblu/pseuds/Russianblu
Summary: Sasha is aware of the rising tensions in the archives after Martin was stalked by Prentiss and after she had her own encounter with Michael. In an attempt to boost morale and bring them closer together, Tim suggests that they all visit the beach to unwind and get their minds off of all things paranormal. Sasha takes it upon herself to make sure that everyone has fun and relaxes, but she forgets to give herself that luxury.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Sasha James, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood/Sasha James/Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood/Tim Stoker, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sasha James & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Sasha James & Tim Stoker, Sasha James/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker, jonmartimsasha is endgame but sasha/tim is established and the tim/martin pining is Very Obvious
Comments: 30
Kudos: 43
Collections: TMA Big Bang 2020





	1. Low tide

**Author's Note:**

> Do you ever get trapped in your house due to covid and yearn very deeply for the beach? I did! I've been planning this fic since June while I was really missing the outside world. 
> 
> I'm new to ao3 formatting in general, but I'll try my best to provide a link to everyone's socials and a master list of all the art. The art made for this fic will be shared in the notes at the end of each chapter it applies to! [Here is a link to the tumblr post promoting this fic and the artists involved.](https://ebenrosetaylor.tumblr.com/post/636667710749671424/mag-265-beach-episode)
> 
> Beta Readers (who did a lot of work checking my grammar and making sure I stayed in the right tense):  
> [EdilMayHampsen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdilMayHampsen/pseuds/EdilMayHampsen) (@drumkonwords on tumblr. They helped me with sensitivity reading and a great back-up beta in general)  
> [kingofghosting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingofghosting/pseuds/kingofghosting) (@kingthephantom on insta/twitter/tumblr. He helped me with general plot direction and Tim characterization) (  
> [bisexualoftheblade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualoftheblade/pseuds/bisexualoftheblade) (also on tumblr. They helped keep me on track and was a great back up beta!)  
> [TheBrightestNight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrightestNight/pseuds/TheBrightestNight) (a stowaway!! who helped me with Sasha characterization)  
> Artists:  
> [desert-lily](https://desert-lily.tumblr.com/) (who made art for chapters 1 and 3, makes amazing mood boards, introduced me to Old Hunstanton, and was effectively a British sensitivity reader.)  
> [antiv3nomarts](https://www.instagram.com/antiv3nomarts/) on insta, [antiv3nom](https://antiv3nom.tumblr.com/) on tumblr (who made art for chapters 2 and 4, and has a very lovely style!)  
> [happyfunballxd](https://happyfunballxd.tumblr.com/) on tumblr (who made art for chapters 2 and 4, and who also has a very cute style!)
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

When Sasha first met Tim, she found them in the break room with an architectural book in one hand and takeout food on the other. She hadn't formally met Tim yet, so she thought she'd strike up some light conversation using the book that they were reading as an ice breaker. What she hadn't expected was to hear Tim ramble about the architectural design of Robert Smirke well past their lunch break. She hadn't had the heart to stop them. It always made her happy when people would listen to her talk about her special interests, so she'd let them ramble about their hyperfixation until they noticed the time.

What stuck with her was how they'd talk about architecture from a philosophical standpoint. They spoke about balance within structures, and how that balance belonged in all aspects of nature and eventually humanity. The structure of the world was the same as the structure of any building. It needed a strong foundation or else it would be unstable and crumble under any pressure. 

And much like that, people had to have balance in every aspect of life, internally and externally.

It's what gave her comfort and purpose in the Magnus Institute. For all that Sasha could see, the structure of the institute was built on a foundation that gave it the odd energy it exuded. Tim told Sasha that they joined the Institute to restore balance in their own life. There could be a possibility that she started working here for a greater purpose. If Sasha was so quick to notice that something was wrong with the Institute, she might be able to fix it and make a positive difference.

Sasha took that to heart. She pushed herself every day. Gertrude Robinson, herself, even suggested that she was the most capable worker in the entire institute. But after all of her hard work to restore the balance, she found that she was pushing herself too far. While working in the offices, she infiltrated databases for information. That was a job in itself that she should be paid double for. But her most recent major task for her job included shaking hands with a male-presenting figure with a headache laugh, and a victim of a worm-infested terror that tried to attack her. 

She needed a vacation.

They all needed a vacation.

Sasha's experience with Michael and a walking corpse of worms, the Prentiss-enforced house arrest that Martin had to endure, and Jon's growing stress over trying to find the one piece of information to counter this threat — there was too much stress on everyone's shoulders. She knew that they would all be too focused on their work to make an effort to take a break. If Tim hadn't pointed out Sasha's own exhaustion during her lunch break, she might not have noticed herself. 

Originally, she just planned a beach vacation for herself. But after thinking about her co-workers, she hatched a plan. And then she did some research, and then she decided on a date, and then she sent an email.

\-----

From: Sasha James spjames@magnusinstitute.com

To: tsstoker@magnusinstitute.com

Mkblackwood@magnusinstitute.com

Archivist.Jrsims@magnusinstitute.com

Date: April 13th, 2016 8:24 AM

Subject: Let's Get Out- Archives Beach Trip This Weekend!

Hello fellow archive workers,

I am emailing you all today to invite you to The Archives Beach Trip next weekend! I’ve been paying careful attention to everyone’s schedules to find the best time to conduct this event, and it seems that the 23rd will work the best for everyone. I also hope that you caught on to the subtle hints that I have been giving you all about what might be in store for us on this trip. Tim and I have discussed beach locations that we could go to and we have concluded that the best spot would be the Old Hunstanton beach! It isn’t too crowded and there are even a few rock pools that we can explore during low tide. By the main Hunstanton beach, there is a boardwalk that we can go to in case we get a bit peckish. Not only that, but there are also a few very interesting gift shops that I would like to go to. We would park in the big field just outside the main beach area. To get to Old Hunstanton, we would walk down the beach away from the boardwalk. What I have in mind is this: we’d meet up at the beach around 10 am and then stay until 6 pm, but we can be flexible with times to suit the needs of everyone that will be coming. 

So, are you all interested? I know that I’m very excited about this beach trip! Reply to this email to let us know if you’re up for this outing, and if you would need a ride there. 

Have a good week, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,

Sasha

Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

She got a reply from Tim within a few minutes. 

\-----

Heya, Sash!

I know we were just talking about it yesterday, but I thought I’d give you a more official response outside of texts. Well… You already know my thoughts on the matter!! :^) Though, I’ll need a ride to the beach, unless I want to get up at the asscrack of dawn to ride the bus down there. Eugh. 

Timothy Stoker

He/him/his, they/them/theirs

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

Sasha couldn’t help but smile at this. She made a mental note to lay down some extra towels on the floor and seat of her car before she would let them ride in it.

The rest of the day went on as any other normal workday would go. Filing, sorting, stapling, labeling, all sorts of repetitive tasks that she could get lost in and distract her from the excitement of the beach trip. Proposed beach trip. She had to remind herself that Martin and Jon might not want to go, and that she would have to let them stay if they weren’t up to it. Still, Sasha was persistent. She could try her best to convince them to go, and that was exactly what she would do.

Luckily for her, she didn't have to do too much convincing. She felt her phone buzz around noon to let her know she'd received a reply to her email. Martin had forwarded the message to all the original recipients, so she hoped he didn’t accidentally say something embarrassing like last time.

\-----

I'd love to go, but I have to do some research on the worms/parasites that live on beaches before saying for certain how willing I would be to go on the physical beach or in the water. Either way, I could give everyone a ride if needed. My car fits 4 people and it's pretty old so I wouldn't mind if you guys got the seats wet or brought a little sand in, as long as you don't overdo it. Haha! I'll make sandwiches and bring fruit. What type of sandwiches do you prefer? I make a killer cucumber sandwich, but I can try my hand at others too. Oh, would you like nut cookies? I love them and I can see if I can buy some the next time I go grocery shopping. And I'll bring water bottles too! We can't have everyone dying of thirst while we’re out in the hot sun all day. Soda actually makes you dehydrated, along with other popular beach drinks, so I would be careful if you pack those for the trip. I can also bring extra towels, sunscreen, an umbrella, and a radio if you want. I also want to test out this old camera I got at the thrift store, would you want to take a few selfies while we’re there? Oh, I must be rambling at this point. I don't think that's too bad, since it shows how excited I am for this outing, but I can't help but feel a bit self-conch-us. We could either meet up at the institute and go from there or I can pick everyone up at their homes. Whatever makes everyone most comfortable. I know that not everyone is okay with giving away their addresses. Anyways! I'm very excited to go and i

Sincerely,

Martin

Martin K. Blackwood

He/him/his

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

  
  


That was one hell of a mess to read. He couldn’t have proofread that before sending it? “Self conch us”? Was that a pun? Did he even finish the email?

Either way, Sasha was glad that Martin was enthusiastic about the beach trip. It gets stuffy in the archives, so living in them had to be dreadful. Sasha barely had time to react before Tim sent a reply to everyone.

\-----

Thanks, Martin!

It sure is nice of you to offer up your taxi services to all of us. Seriously, you’re a lifesaver! :^D I’ll take your offer, and I can’t wait to see you there! 

xoxo

Timothy Stoker

He/him/his, they/them/theirs

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

Wow, laying it on a little thick, huh, Tim? With how Tim usually flirted, Sasha just knew that they made sure to close their eyes before pressing send. What a sap. She made a mental note to tease them about it later.

She glanced at the clock hung above the door frame. 12:55 pm. Break was almost over. She had a busy day ahead of her, and she hadn't followed up on the Jasmine Landscaping case yet, so she knew she would be too busy to keep the conversation going. She made her way over to the fridge to put away her leftovers, then sped through typing a response.

\-----

Martin,

Thank you for offering to carpool for us all, I’d love to ride with you too! It would save gas and keep everyone entertained on the trip there and back. I do believe that it would make more sense to pick everyone up at our homes. That way no one has to pay extra for the tube to get to the Institute. After all, we’ll be riding in a car either way. Martin, you can worry about the sandwiches and snacks if you let me pay for the gas. And I will absolutely _not_ let you talk me out of it!

Best,

Sasha

Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

Sasha worked on her computer for the rest of the day, stealing glances into her email that are most definitely intended to be for work purposes only. Still no word from Jon at this point, which was to be expected. The only time she saw him that day was when he jogged from one end of the archives to the other, folders and papers nearly spilling out of his arms. 

Sasha did run into Martin while he paced around the library. She made light conversation with him about work before their discussion turned to bickering over the ethics of letting one person pay for the gas of an entire trip. Sasha got every bit of satisfaction when she was able to fully convince him to let her pay. 

The day rolled by until it was time for her to clock out, and she said goodbye to a pajama-clad Martin. It was still unusual to her to see Martin staying at the institute when they used to head to the parking lot around the same time. It was a subtle change in her daily routine that still bothered her, and made her await the day when they would finally be done with Prentiss and they could all go back to what it was like before. 

She made her way over to Tim’s desk to say goodbye as well, only to find them peacefully asleep on top of their laptop. A very important document looked like it was going to be filled to the brim with F’s when they woke up. Sasha pulled the keyboard out from under their face, but she didn’t have the heart to wake them up. 

Sasha left the institute and made her way back to her flat, tired from the daily grind. By the time Sasha was about to fall asleep, she got an email from Tim with a new subject. Couldn’t they have just texted her? She opened it with a yawn.

\-----

Heya, Sash!

I gotta tell it to ya, I am SO glad that Martin offered his car for the beach party. I mean, I don’t think Jon has a car and I don’t know if your car would have been a good idea for this party. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to ride with you to Old Hunstanton! Buuuuuut I’d feel bad if I was the reason your big honker got all beaten up with salt and sand.

P.S. Martin has a car??????

Timothy Stoker

He/him/his, they/them/theirs

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

At this point, the white glare from her phone’s screen was making her eyes throb. She rubbed them, giving them a few seconds of rest before diving back into the bright light. Sasha could feel herself drifting off, but she didn't let that stop her. She began typing a response on her phone...

It didn't occur to her that she never sent Tim a reply to their email until she was looking at her draft folder at work. An out of place Æ symbol cut her last sentence short, and suddenly she didn't feel judgmental about Martin forgetting to finish the sentences of his emails.

\-----

Tim,

I appreciate the concern for Lexy <3 Also, stop calling her Big Honker!! Cars have feelings too. This disrespect would have banned you from car privileges for the trip, but truth be told, I wouldn’t have let you ride my car on the way back anyway. 

Also, yes. Martin has a car. I’m glad that Jon is letting him sleep in the archives because it is a much better alternative to his other option of living in his car. Whenever I pass by it in the parking lot I feel like I should do him a favor and drive it to the mechanic for a spa day.

Best,

Sasha

Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

The weekend came and went as it normally would, aside from the occasional text from Martin asking about food allergies. At a certain point, they all decided to make a group chat, because it just made more sense than emails and text messages sent at three in the morning. 

They were all hard at work trying to organize everything that they would want to do. Martin tried to nail down every detail and plan every beat of the trip. Tim told him to relax and let whatever happens happen. It wouldn’t be a vacation if they didn’t leave some things up to chance, and Sasha had already accounted for most things. This made Sasha’s heart glow. Keeping things organized and in control while leaving room for chaos was one of the things she took pride in.

The workweek crawled onwards, and at a certain point, Tim was pushing the dress code by wearing increasingly bright Hawaiian shirts, and Martin’s questions about what he might need to pack in the car made it seem like the only thing the three of them could think about was the beach. 

Sasha was aching to feel the warm sun on her skin and the smell of saltwater on the breeze. For all of its pitfalls and the eeriness it exuded, Sasha liked working at the institute. But the gradual exposure she had to real life horrors tested her passion for the paranormal. It wore down on her and she needed to get away from it. 

She sought medical attention for the scar that Michael left after removing one of Jane’s worms. It itched, and she found herself gravitating towards scratching it when she was lost in thought. Bandages and medical gauze protected her stitches and kept them undisturbed, but each time she reached for them she was reminded of her encounter with Michael as well as one of Jane’s victims. She didn’t realize it until after she gave her statement to Jon, but she had a near death experience. 

She missed the old worries and anxieties that she used to have. To her, having anxieties about her fellow coworkers not wanting to come or not having a good time at a beach party seemed like a pleasant change of pace.

On Wednesday, Sasha noticed that Martin was pacing around more than usual. She didn’t get a chance to ask him about it before receiving an email from him.

\-----

Jon hasn’t replied to the email about the beach trip yet. Do you think he’s gonna come? I thought that he could be too busy to check his emails, but then I also got to thinking that he would be too busy with work to go there either way. Sorry for emailing you instead of messaging the group chat, but… I don't know, I’ve just been really nervous with Prentiss and everything else that’s been going on, which makes me jumpy about everything, even social interactions. Kinda silly, don’t ya think? 

Sincerely,

Martin

Martin K. Blackwood

He/him/his

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

This hadn’t escaped Sasha’s notice, but she was grateful for the reminder to follow up with Jon. She was not surprised in the slightest with how long it was taking him to get back to her. He always piled loads and loads of work onto himself without considering the damage it could do to his mental health. He could use a vacation. Or at least accept Martin’s tea with more gratitude. That man gave him tea on the daily as a way of telling him to take a break. 

Sasha sighed and typed her response.

\-----

Martin,

Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. If anyone needs a vacation, it's Jon. I’ll find a way to convince him that it’ll help him be more productive at work next week, and that it’s a proper investment.

Best,

Sasha

Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

There’s not much to add on to what she said before, so she just forwarded the original email to Jon with a little reminder to give a proper response. 

\-----

Jon, 

Just checking in to see if you got this email. Please reply ASAP so we can plan accordingly.

Best,

Sasha

Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

Sasha sighed and got into her car. As she drove out of the parking lot, she couldn’t help but wonder how the weekend would pan out.

She wasn’t very optimistic that Jon would want to go, but she had a feeling that she could convince him. She drummed her fingers on her steering wheel; the noise and rhythm helped her stay grounded among the chaos of London’s streets. Her car was supposed to be one of those new silent cars, but there could only be so much noise you can block out without it overstimulating you.

The stop and go traffic gave her time to let her mind wander for a bit as she planned out the rest of her day. She’d do some research unrelated to work, of course, that would hopefully help everyone when it would come time for the beach trip. 

Everyone needed this vacation. Tim, Jon, Martin, and Sasha had all been working tirelessly for the past few months to try and pick up the slack that Gertrude left in her absence. This often meant that they would work late hours into the night and work weekends. As for Jon, that man is very unlikely to go to therapy or use his vacation days. But they were both stubborn, and wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

Sasha didn’t hear back from Jon until Thursday morning.

\-----

Hello, Sasha.

After much deliberation, I have concluded that it would be for the best that I do not attend this workplace outing at this time. As you know, the entire institute is on guard after the recent interactions between the archive staff and Jane Prentiss. Workers from all departments report encounters with the unclassified parasites daily. Whether or not they are connected to Prentiss cannot be concluded at this time, but as it were, it is better to be safe than sorry. On the same note, I also advise that Martin does not attend this outing as well. Whatever parasites he ran into while Prentiss was harassing him, could be found anywhere, as seen with your encounter with one of her victims. It is dangerous enough for you to go out on your own looking for people like Michael to help you in our research, but Martin is more likely to die of fright at the sight of any unrelated worms or insects seen on the beach than either you or Tim.

On a more practical level, I cannot attend this event because of the mountains of paperwork that need to be organized. As you are very well aware, my predecessor did not leave an easy task for me in her absence. Over the weekend I planned on reviewing case files no.0010828, no.8550526, no.0090705, and no.9051223 and recording them when it is necessary. 

I am sure that you will understand my decision with all of this information in mind. It isn't imperative that I attend, and I will find myself to be of more use in the archives recording statements while you are off frolicking in the sand and eating cotton candy in the blistering sun. As appealing as that is, I would rather spend my time in my office doing the work that is expected of me. We are salary workers, not hourly workers, after all.

Jonathan Sims

Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

Sasha cracks her knuckles and starts typing.

\-----

Jon, 

I hear you and I understand your concerns. However, you will find that attending this outing will actually be beneficial to you (and Martin) and help you both to be more productive in your upcoming work week. I have multiple case reports attached to this email detailing the scientific data and research collected on this subject. 

Although we may leave the workplace and go outside to do our investigations, this is not the same as a break from work. A 2012 study conducted by the Office of National Statistics concluded that 46% of people in England visited a natural environment once or twice a month at most [1]. These include small patches of grass and trees sectioned off in the city. It is my theory that we are all among this 46%. The time that we spend in natural environments are for work purposes and do not benefit our health in the same way that a vacation would. 

In the 2011 Economics Bulletin, _“An incentive to increase laborers' productivity with adopting performance based wages and paid vacations”_ , a complex formula was developed to determine the productivity of workers depending on variables such as exercised productivity relative to the potential of the individual, labor hours, cost of labor hours, surplus production, and paid vacation time[2]. Vacation time is an effective incentive to increase productivity in individuals and adds a positive net value of general wellness to their workplace and employers. You can also take my personal testimony to back up this data. From April 1st to April 10th I was very on edge, researching and staying up as late as I could to figure out what that Michael person's deal was. I couldn't properly balance my work and my research and there was a 32% decrease in my productivity [3]. Depriving myself of sleep and rest these past two weeks did a number on my own mental and physical health, and this outing will help me recover. 

Connecting back to an earlier point on natural environment visitation, I would like to direct you to the resources I have provided on the subject of sunlight improving human health. One study found that, “low vitamin D concentration is associated with depression” [4]. I won’t make any comments about anyone’s mental health; however I know a lot of us don’t leave the walls of the Archives and are less chipper than those working in more windowed areas. 

The Endocrine Society, an international medical organization in metabolism and endocrinology, conducted an experiment based on this theory. They proposed that the increase in vitamin D intake had possibly improved the mental wellness of the women in their conducted study. “After treatment, all three women reported significant improvement in their depression, as found using the Beck Depression Inventory.”[5] The Hudstandton beach has lots of room for us to soak up the sunshine, and thus increase our vitamin D intake. If you were to go to this event with us, both your physical and mental health will improve.

I will now address your concerns that are specific to our affiliation to The Magnus Institute. The first topic will be that of the rising concern of parasitic intruders brought about by Jane Prentiss. Over the past three weeks, we have seen a rising number of worms in and near the institute that match the description of the worms connected to Jane Prentiss. After doing some research and gathering eye-witness accounts from the janitorial staff that cleans up after these carcasses, I was able to calculate that the number of worms found in and outside of the Archives has been increasing at a steady rate of 1.7% per day[6]. We don't have enough information to conclude whether or not this trend will continue, but it is enough for us to conclude that the archives are not a safe haven from Prentiss. There's so much that we don't know about the world around us. Every time we learn something new, it only adds to our anxieties. We spend our whole workweek searching for answers that will only cause us to become more fearful of the world around us. But the people outside of the institute do not have the same knowledge as you and I, nor the drive to search for it. Do you know what happens to them? The answer may surprise you. 

They do just fine. 

Believe it or not, a building won't protect its occupants from any chaos that is happening around it. It's just a pile of brick and mortar on top of its foundations; which was probably another building that the owners thought was a fortress, and a building that couldn't protect anyone. And yes, I know you like to pretend that the only spooky thing that we should take seriously is the Leitners and Prentiss. But come on. Your core reasons for not wanting to leave the archives for a single day are because you think that Martin would be less anxious about the worms by staying inside and you think it's unsafe for us to be outside for too long.

In conclusion, it would be counterproductive to miss the opportunity presented to you to increase productivity in the workplace by recharging. Staying cooped up indoors for most of the day will be a detriment to your health, your work, and the people around you. After evaluating this information, we hope that you have changed your mind about going. We’d love to have you there.

What do you say, Jon?

Best,

Sasha

  1. Randall C. Measuring National Well-being, Where we Live, 2012. England: Office for National Statistics [Internet]. 2012 Jul 24; Available from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_270690.pdf
  2. Nakamura, Yui. "An incentive to increase laborers' productivity with adopting performance-based wages and paid vacations''." _Economics Bulletin_ 31, no. 1 (2011): 1018-1024. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6886320.pdf
  3. Ask me if you want to see my spreadsheet for calculating my own productivity.
  4. Anglin RES, Samaan Z, Walter SD, McDonald SD. Vitamin D deficiency and depression in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Feb;202:100–107.
  5. Endocrine Society. Treating Vitamin D Deficiency May Improve Depression [Internet]. Newswise. 2012 [cited 2017 Mar 30]. Available from: http://www.newswise.com/articles/treating-vitamin-d-deficiency-may-improve-depression
  6. Please thank Wallus for their service the next time you see them.



Sasha James

She/her/hers

Archival Assistant at the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

That essay definitely had more personal parts to it that she would have rather not typed in any kind of academic paper. She wasn’t even sure if she did her citations correctly in the parts that she cited legitimate sources in the first place. But she was pressed on time. She had spent too much of her work time writing an essay about something only tangentially related to work. 

She cracked the joints in each of her knuckles and then worked her way to stretching each individual finger. Then she massaged the tendons in her thumb and forearm. When she had finally finished, Sasha leaned back in her chair and hoped for the best. There’s only so much you can say to try to convince someone to take care of themselves. All she could do was get through the next two days of work, and hope that she's graced with a response.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait too long to get a reply. Jon messaged her back to her on Friday morning.

\-----

Hello, Sasha.

We’ll see.

Jonathan Sims

Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

VIGILO-OPPERIOR-AUDIO

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first piece of art belongs to [desert-lily](https://desert-lily.tumblr.com/post/636671081163423744/moodboard-for-tma-265-beach-episode-by), who makes WONDERFUL mood boards! Go check out their stuff!  
> 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fic! I actually didn't intend to write this first chapter; it originally started as a warm-up to decide on events that would happen in the next chapter but then it just kept getting longer... and longer... until it was no longer a writing exercise and was effectively a prologue to the larger story. 
> 
> I took inspiration from [The Magnus Institute vs the 21st Century](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807057) for the emailing as a form of communication, except this time it's more casual and the automatic signatures are a bit different. You might have noticed that Tim's automatic email signature has he/they pronouns for him. I will be alternating their pronouns throughout the fic; they/them for chapters 1 and 2, and he/him for chapters 3 and 4. I normally mix up pronouns for people with more than one pronoun set with reckless abandon, but I think it'll be easier to follow if Tim used one set of pronouns per chapter.
> 
> I'm still in the process of writing this fic, but I think I'll be able to keep a consistent posting schedule. I'll post chapter 2 next week and then switch to a bi-weekly posting schedule for the last two chapters. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! I can't wait to show you all what I've got in store for y'all! :^D


	2. Rising Tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the beach trip has finally come. Sasha, Martin, and Tim all ride together to the beach and plan their day. But there is one thing that they forgot to take into account- Jon actually showing up.

The heat radiated from the blacktop road just steps away from Sasha's flat. It permeated the air, laying thick around the city. To some it could be comforting, a warm blanket to counter the otherwise dreary weather that was common in the city. Sasha found it oppressive, emphasizing the entrapment that many felt in this urban jungle of steel and brick. Without the soil, grass, foliage, and trees to absorb the heat of the sun and cast shade on the environment, the city became a hotbox. The warmth in the air reflected and amplified by the understructure made it unbearable to be outside for too long. It took all of Sasha's mental effort to focus her energy towards a more positive response. 

The smell of heated tar would soon be long gone and replaced with the salty shoreline. The heat on the rocks and sand would soon be remedied by the rising ocean tides, washing over the landscape. Yes, that's better. Distant shores are waiting, and all that.

Sasha waited on her stoop for Martin to arrive. She carried a wicker bag in one hand and a towel on the other. She made sure to bring along her goggles and some sunscreen just in case Tim forgot theirs. She wore a loose dress as a beach cover-up over her bikini. Well, it couldn't really be called a bikini. It was a one piece swimsuit because the bikini top and the bikini skirt were attached with criss crossed straps. It was as cute as hell and she couldn't wait to show it off.

As soon as she was going to rest her bag on the ground, Martin’s car pulled up to the edge of the curb. This was a delightful surprise for Sasha, who was fully prepared to wait a few minutes in the heat before Martin showed up. She walked down the steps and leaned down slightly to give Martin a wave through the tinted glass. He returned the wave and gave her a broad smile. No one was in the passenger seat yet, so she bounded towards the other side of the car and waited for Martin to unlock it before climbing in. She closed the door behind her and clicked her seat belt into place. Safety first! 

"Sorry I'm a tad bit late." Martin said apologetically. Sasha glanced at the car’s internal clock. It read 8:02am. "I had planned on leaving an hour earlier, which is why I said that I would be ready to pick you up when I did. I do this mental thing where I try to trick myself into thinking something starts earlier when it does. That way, I can't possibly be late." 

Sasha nodded and smiled, not knowing how to respond other than a little, “mhmm”. Sasha brought her bag to the floor at her feet and kept her towel rolled up on top of her lap. Once she was situated, Martin started driving again. She was happy to let Martin steer the conversation as well as the car.

"But then I got really preoccupied this morning. Since the institute café wasn't open I had to get a quick bite to eat from the coffee shop down the street, but the line was much longer than usual. Probably because it was in the morning rush. But I don't normally go there, so what do I know-"

Sasha wished that she was better at small talk. It was obvious that he was trying his best to lead the conversation himself, and to at least fill up the empty space between them. She continued to nod along to what he said.

"Anyways, I ended up taking much longer than I intended getting breakfast so I was already behind schedule. I was planning on styling my hair into Bantu knots for the beach but since I had already lost track of time I just settled on conditioning it and styling it into finger coils. And at that point, I-… I'm rambling, sorry." Martin laughed awkwardly and sighed.

Sasha didn’t realize that her silence could come off as disinterest. She immediately tried to reassure him and let him know that it wasn’t like that. "No it's alright. I don't mind listening. I'd love for others to do the same for me, so go on." And it was true. Sasha did like hearing Martin talk, it’s just that she hasn’t quite gotten in the headspace to interact with other people just yet. Just give her a bit longer and she’ll be fine.

Their car came to a stop as they reached an intersection. "Thanks, Sasha. I…” Martin drummed his fingers on the top of the steering wheel. “I suppose I'm just nervous about all of this. You seemed so confident in your emails and it helped give me enough courage to come with you all but. I've never hung out with you outside of the institute, besides that time we got ice cream."

"For your birthday, right?" Sasha did remember this, but she wanted to steer the conversation towards something more positive. Maybe if she helped him focus on how much fun they had the last time they all spent time together, he would feel more confident in spending time with them today.

"Yeah! The day after my birthday, actually.” Sasha does remember that instance. On the day of his actual birthday, Jon had said some nasty things to Martin by accident. The next day, he took them all out for ice cream and paid for all of their food himself. “That was really fun. Thank you for that, by the way."

Sasha laughed. "Once again, don't mention it." 

"Alright, then I won't speak a word of it ever again.” Sasha saw a smile creep across Martin’s face as he said this.

"That's final."

"No more."

There was a pause in their conversation again. Martin was desperate to fill it.

"If I mention it again, be sure to, I don't know, slap me or something."

Sasha took this seriously. "That seems a little harsh, doesn't it? How about I just force you to buy me a frozen desert the next time you say anything about it?"

Martin paused for a moment. "Hm… deal." The light turned green and Martin started driving down the road once more.

Sasha stretched her back, twisting her torso to the left and the right. "Well, I hope you bring it up again soon, because Tim told me about this amazing ice cream vendor that you'll absolutely love."

"Oh- Do they have sorbet? Or any sort of non-dairy ice cream?"

"I'm sure that they at least have fudgesicles, but you'd have to inquire with Tim once we pick him up."

Martin gave an upbeat noise of agreement. Their conversation faded after that point. Sasha didn't know how to continue it, and it looked like Martin was too focused on the road in front of them to make any more idle chatter. 

At this point, Sasha would usually play music. "Mind if I turn on the radio?"

It took a second for Martin to break his concentration on the road. "Hmm? Oh, sure. I've also got some cassettes for when the radio songs are too cliché, or if all the good stations are stuck on commercial break."

Sasha was taken aback by this. "Your car can't be that old can it? For it to still take cassette tapes?" She looked at the car’s clock and the area around it. There was a slot for CDs to fit into, but nothing for cassette tapes.

"No, but I do have this cool adapter!" Martin grins broadly and opens the compartment in his armrest. He pulls out a cassette-sized device and plugs it into the car's AUX jack. He demonstrates the steps with his forearms leaning on the steering wheel to keep steering the car down the road. Dangerous! "You just pop a cassette on the end right here, and plug in the aux cord, and it plays!"

Sasha recognized the song that started playing, but it was a modern song. She thinks it’s called Chicago, by Steven Sufjan, or something. She deduced that he was able to burn the songs onto the cassette tapes, but she has no idea why he would make the effort to do so if it would be so much easier to plug in his phone or buy a CD.

The conversation faded out again, but they were no longer in silence. The melody filled it comfortably with its sound, and it smoothed over every awkward space between them. Sasha let it wrap around her, and she let her mind delve into it, not paying attention to the world around her. Forgetting about the institute, the beach trip, and everything she had planned. All that she knew was her friend driving her to the outskirts of the city, the car they were in, and the music. 

She was so wrapped up in the song that she hadn't noticed Martin drive up to Tim's house. She had come here before, of course, but not with anyone else, so it was a strange feeling arriving there without facing the building. Looking out the window, she saw Tim bound towards them, happier than she'd seen him in a long time. He wore a Hawaiian shirt button up and his custom print red shorts, which honestly made her a bit nervous for when (if) Jon showed up to their party. Tim also held his towel and other supplies in one hand, and under his opposite arm he held a boogie board. 

"Hi guys!" He beamed at the two of them. Sasha and Martin greeted him in turn while Martin unlocked the back door for him. Tim shoved his boogie board in first, trying to find room for himself around it. 

Martin turned to face Tim as they entered the back seat. "Sorry there's not too much space, I tried to cram as much as I could into the trunk.” 

“It’s alright! I can play tetris with my own body.” Tim joked and climbed into the back. He eventually found a slot for his board between the ceiling of the car and the beach umbrella. Martin kept talking to Tim as he reached for his phone. 

“Could you give me the address so I can plug it into the satnav?”

“Yeah sure thing! Well actually, I could just plug it in myself.” Martin hummed in agreement and handed his phone to Tim, who began typing in the address. They gave it back to Martin, and he mounted it back on his dashboard. Tim leaned back into their seat and asked, “So I’m guessing that this means Jon is a no-show?”

Sasha sighed. She kept checking her email throughout the morning but got no response from Jon about whether or not he decided he would join them. In the back of her mind, she wonders if she might have said something wrong. But she did all that she could do, so she had to stay optimistic. “I’m afraid that might be the case, but there’s always the chance that he could meet us there,” she responded.

Tim scoffed. “Really? That’d be a surprise. What did he say to you again?”

“He responded to my very thoughtful yet casual paper with a brisk, ‘We’ll see.’” When Sasha quoted Jon’s email, she lowered her pitch and spoke more through her nose. Her Jon impression gave the desired effect, both Tim and Martin were laughing, and Sasha could hear Tim rolling in their seat.

Tim catches themself in the middle of a giggle to say, “Your Jon impression gets funnier every time you do it." 

“Wait, how long have you been practicing that impression?”

Since the first day that she had met Jon but she'd never tell anyone that. It was a fun party trick that she fell back on, and it always seemed to work. Sasha kept up the act as she kept talking. “Well, only on occasion. But that is besides the point. I wanted my reply to be as vague and unhelpful as possible so that you would know that I am afraid of commitment when it means I have to act outside of my comfort zone. That is the brilliance of a ‘We’ll see’. It’s about as helpful as a maybe, which almost always means no.”

“You know, I would have expected more of a flat out “No” from him.” Tim snorted in laughter and kept going, doing their own Jon impression. “No I will absolutely not join you three in your beach party. I am a workaholic and I am allergic to having fun.”

Sasha puffed herself up and turned around in her seat towards Tim. “Not only that, but I care about papers more than I care about my own health.”

Martin interjects into their back Jon impressions to bring them back to their original issues. “Well, that kind of vague answer still could leave room for a ‘yes.’” Martin shrugged his shoulders. He spoke more cautiously this time. “Who knows, we could see him already set up on the beach when we get there.”

“In your dreams, Martin.” She caught herself saying that too quickly. “Sorry, just kidding. You’re right though. It is a possibility, and it would be nice if he did show up”

“I did read Sasha’s essay, it was pretty convincing to me.” Tim said.

This got Martin’s attention. “I never got to read it. Was it a private message?”

Sasha remembered that she didn’t exactly give Martin any follow up after he had confided his worries in her. “Yes, he emailed me his initial excuse privately after I prodded him to respond.”

“Oh.” Martin says quietly.

Ah, right. Sasha knows that Jon interacts with her the most. It only makes sense to her; she’s the only one who can interrupt Jon’s recordings without him getting snippy with her, which might be because she normally doesn’t come into the office to make idle chatter. She knew that if she organized the event over Tim, and especially over Martin, then Jon would be more likely to come along with them all. Sometimes, she forgets that Martin might feel isolated by that fact. 

Martin’s crush on Jon was stronger than Tim’s and her own combined. Even she could see how much he pined over that man. He just doesn’t know that Jon doesn’t do well with small talk, and using tea as a conversation starter will only get him so far. At this point, she doesn’t understand why Martin continues to try and repress his feelings and hide it. Tim and her both knew Jon for longer than he did, and they knew that Jon didn’t exactly work well with the kind of subtle flirting that he tried. And if he does pick up on it, like he did with Tim, he assumes that the interested party was mocking him. 

Sasha stares out the window and watches the cars drive alongside them. She thinks back to when they were planning the trip in person after the initial invitation was sent out. In retrospect, she thought that he had gotten flustered over the thought of Jon actually coming. What kind of things were running through Martin’s mind when they were talking about the outfits they would want to wear? Tim joked about Jon showing up in a speedo. Sasha doubts that would ever happen. She’s never seen Jon without long sleeves on, and the most he’s ever dressed down was when he wore a green jumper during casual Friday. If anything, he would show up to the beach wearing something like a three piece suit. Definitely not without his shirt. For Martin’s own sanity, she hopes that Jon is going to beat Martin in the modesty department.

When they had reached the beach, Tim had declared a rule for them all to follow. As long as they were on the beach, they wouldn’t have any kind of discussion about work. It would help them if they would disconnect if they didn’t have their phones with them either. Sasha added that it would also be a good idea to keep their valuables in the glove box so that sand wouldn’t ruin it. 

So they had all made sure to leave their cell phones in the glove box of Martin’s car before heading onto the beach. Martin also made sure to leave his kippah in the car, and they were ready to make the trek along the boardwalk to the beach. 

It’s been so long since any of them have seen the sun and felt it on their skin. From where they were parked they could already smell the sharp salty ocean, carried on the gentle breeze. Faint grains of sand were kicked up against their faces and prickled against their skin. Sasha’s eyes adjusted to the horizon stretched in front of her. Tim was right. It was a small beach, much less busy than the beaches that she used to be a lifeguard at during summer breaks at uni. She was thankful that she didn’t actually need to worry about anyone being swept out to sea or any kids being forgotten on the beach. This was a time all of them could relax. This was a time that  _ she  _ could relax.

She took a deep breath in. Everyone is going to have fun. She’s going to stop thinking about work and monsters and hauntings and killings and- Okay. Let’s try again. 

Old Hudstanton beach. She’s in the present. The people around her are Martin, her friend, and Tim, her boyfriend. She thinks that at this point she can call Martin her friend. Tim was scouting the area as well, pointing towards different spots around the beach. He was explaining the different advantages to different spots on the beach and what kinds of things he was planning on doing. Tim bounced from topic to topic, but gave enough leeway in his excitement to let Martin share some of the things that he wanted to do. Tim was always good at that. 

Sasha continued to ground herself in the present while they walked further out onto the beach, the warm sand kicking up into her flip flops as she kept up with her friends. When they had all scouted the unoccupied part of the beach, they had found a spot far away from any other beachgoers to set up their towels and Martin’s umbrella. It was close enough to the shore that they wouldn’t have to walk too far to get to the ocean and close enough so that high tide wouldn’t sweep away their belongings when it arrived.

While her partner and friend were setting up beach equipment, Sasha couldn’t help but bask in the sun. She took off her coverup dress and stretched in the sunlight. She sat down in the sand and laid on her back. Sure, she might have been unfair in making them do all the hard work, but it’s such a nice day out and they seem like they have everything under control. 

They exchanged some light banter with each other as they set up the rest of their things. Tim insisted that Martin should have the umbrella situated right above where his towel lay, but Martin reasoned that they should all share the shade together, and it doesn't make sense to not put it in the middle of the towels. 

Tim’s voice finally brought her outside of her meditative state. "Well, Sasha hasn't set up her towel yet, so there's no way we know where the middle is." 

"Why don't we just set up her towel where she is right now?" Martin asked.

"Oh yeah," Tim chuckled to themself. Before she knew it, Sasha had felt the coarse fabric of her beach towel on top of her whole body, covering her like a blanket.

"Hey! I was in the middle of something!" Sasha said indignantly, throwing the towel off of her and sitting upright. She saw Tim and Martin smiling down at her, but she couldn’t quite discern the intent of it.

"In the middle of sunbathing?" Tim asked. 

"Yes.” Sasha threw her nose up at them and smiled. “Just like a kitten in the sun." She closed her eyes again and laid back down onto the sand. Tim walked over to the direction of the beach towel that she had cast aside. She heard the quick whip of the fabric, which probably meant that he was whipping the sand off of it. She heard Tim’s voice again.

"Well if you're going to be sunbathing, you could at least put on some sunscreen first. You brought some, right?"

"Of course I did! It's in my basket." Sasha gestured over to her left, where she had placed it before sprawling out onto the ground. There was the sound of sand shuffling around her as Tim made their way around her. The light crackle of twisting willow told her that her wicker basket opened and closed. So Tim did end up forgetting their sunscreen. She’s glad that she had the foresight to bring enough for the two of them.

  
Sasha felt the impact of the plastic container slap against her stomach. She opened her eyes with a start, looking up at Tim squatting above her.

“You gotta take care of yourself, you know.” Tim smiles sweetly at her and cocks their head to the side. She rolls her eyes, but returns their smile.  
  
“Oh I’d much rather have a handsome beach babe apply my sunscreen for me, just like in the movies.” Sasha has never seen this happen in any movie. She flutters her eyes at them, trying her hardest to communicate that it’s mostly a joke. She does, however, consider Tim a beach babe.

“Well if you insist...” Tim said, and they took the sunscreen bottle off of her stomach and popped the cap open. They then start to squirt the lotion wildly on top of her body like she was a freshly grilled hot dog.

“Hey! I didn’t actually mean it!” Sasha started swatting Tim away from her. In a more serious tone, she adds, “You could do my back if I need help, but please let me apply the rest myself?” Sasha was very particular about touch, and she often had to measure out ahead of time how much she’ll be able to handle. Doing that constantly can be exhausting in itself, but Tim knows this. It’s enough to get them to stop wasting her sunscreen by pouring it on her in excess. Tim laughed and closed the cap with a quick snap. 

“Alright, alright.” Tim raises their hands defensively and leans away from Sasha. She then scooped up a particularly enormous glob of sunscreen on her leg and brought it over her shoulder, placing it right between her shoulder blades.   
  
When Sasha scooted around to have her back face Tim, she saw Martin staring at the both of them. Was he staring because they were being intimate with each other? It was a possibility, and Sasha felt herself curl inwards on herself while she started spreading the lotion around on her body. Now that she thought about it, did they ever tell Martin that they were a couple? They both knew that it might lead them into a lot of trouble if Jon caught wind of it, now that he was their boss, so he was definitely left in the dark about it. But they should at least let Martin know, if they haven’t already.

Sasha hummed a long note to herself, not exactly sure what to say, or even what she wanted to communicate. Tim must have caught wind of this, because they were the first to speak up.

“Hey Martin, did you want a beach babe to rub lotion on your body too?”

That is nowhere near what Sasha was going to ask.

Martin’s eyes widened and his jaw nearly dropped. “Wh- no! Why would you- I wasn’t thinking anything like that!” Sasha couldn’t see it because of the way the two of them were positioned, but she was sure that Tim winked or did something else to make Martin flustered. He glanced away from the two of them. 

“I… I brought my own sunscreen so there’s no need for- for me to share- and there's- I can reach every part of myself just fine, thank you very much!” Martin punctuated this statement when he crossed his arms and gave them a quick nod. After keeping eye contact with them for a few more moments, his eyes widened and he blinked twice. “What does that face mean? Hmm? What does that face mean, Tim? Care to enlighten me?” Tim’s only response was a fit of laughter. 

Tim finished rubbing the sunscreen on Sasha’s back and then moved onto putting lotion on themself. She could see them carefully drawing patterns on themself to create some kind of suntan art. Whatever it was going to be, Sasha hoped that it would be worth the sunburn they would get for it.

While Tim was preoccupied in exchanging non-verbal communication with Martin, Sasha saw something in the distance. A small speck, moving down the wooden path that they had taken to get to the beach. She couldn’t be sure of it, but she couldn’t help but feel her heart lighten just a little bit. 

She waited a little bit more to be certain, and as the figure walked closer she could identify his silhouette more clearly. She’s seen very few people with the same small stature and slight limp that looked very composed while also looking like they have a stick lodged up their- well... It  _ had _ to be Jon. She crossed her fingers, hoping it was the case. 

There was movement behind her and Tim sat next to Sasha, looking in the same direction that she was. “Is that…? No way,” Tim whispered. Martin turned around from where he was standing and leaned forward. “What? I don’t see anything.”   
  


“No, no- Look  _ that _ way.” Tim pointed at the person walking in their direction, but Martin continued to squint in the general direction. He turned back to them and shook his head in resignation. Tim rose to their feet and stood beside Martin, leaning close to him and pointing again so that Martin could follow the direction of their hand. “Oh!” Martin exclaimed. He then lowered Tim’s arm. “Wait- don’t point. That’s rude.”

Sasha got up as well and walked over to join the two of them. “I think… I think that might be Jon!” 

Martin’s voice got higher and his speech sped up as he realized she had just said. The figure was walking in their direction, so it was most likely true. “Okay, pretend we didn’t see him. Stop pointing.” No one was pointing. “We don’t want to make him think we noticed him or we’re talking about him, so keep your voices down.” Martin was the only one talking, he was the one that needed to keep his voice down. He turned away from the two of them and whispered, “I thought you said he wouldn’t come!”

Sasha made sure that her voice matched the same volume as his. “Actually, we said that ‘maybe’ _ usually _ means ‘no’,” Sasha corrected him.

Tim chuckled and looked at Martin, raising an eyebrow and smiling. “Well Martin, I guess you  _ do _ have a beach babe-” “

“Wait. Tim. Please don’t-” Martin’s eyes widened.

They smiled and whispered softer. “-who gets to have the privilege to rub sunscreen all over your body.”

“Tim, Oh my-” Martin cut himself off, turned around, and walked away. He paced in the opposite direction and circled back around to his starting position, making a frustrated noise the entire time. When he faced Tim again, he plainly said, “No.”

Tim threw their head backward and his chuckles ascended into a big belly laugh. Sasha jabbed them in the side, scolding them. “Tim, stop that! He said he could do it himself, anyways.”

Tim leaned towards Sasha and said, “Well I knew that, but it wasn’t really what I was referring to.”

“Well, what was it then? Hmm?” Martin asked, his voice became quicker and more curt.

“I was suggesting that you could flirt with Jon using the old fashioned-” Tim struck a pose and spoke in a sultry voice. “Hey sweetheart, baby, I can’t reach my back, ohhh it’s so difficult~ Could you rub lotion all over my back?” Martin looked like he was about to say something, but Tim kept going. “Maybe my chest too? _All_ over?”

Martin was fuming at this point. “ _ Tim _ . It’s not like that, and I am  _ not _ going to do that. So step off, okay? Just. Stop that.” Sasha took a step back from him. Maybe they had taken it too far. After all, they never really did this kind of teasing in the office. Usually just a sympathetic look when Jon didn’t return Martin’s kindness, and more recently, their encouragement in Jon’s attitude towards Martin since Jon had let him stay in the archives.

“Martin, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to.” Tim spoke up after a pause, shuffling awkwardly in the sand. “I was just teasing, I’m… I’m sorry if I overstepped your boundaries.” 

Martin stopped to take a breath. “Right, right. I know, it’s just that-” Martin stops to think. “If I want to flirt with…  _ someone _ , then I would prefer it if you don’t make these comments. And besides, I would rather be encouraged than bullied into making any kind of advances on people.”

He was right. Tim’s style of flirting was different from Martin’s, who mostly just did acts of kindness and hoped that they would catch the hints. Most of the time they didn’t. But even then, Sasha knew that Tim would never try flirting in the way that they suggested. They talked big talk, but they were much more reserved when they developed crushes. Whenever anyone flirted back at them, they froze up and became a stuttering mess. So it made sense that after a bit of a pause, they were the first to encourage them.

“You can do anything you set your mind to, Martin!” Tim slapped a hand on his back. Martin couldn’t help but smile, not expecting to hear encouragement so soon.

“Yeah, you’ve got this!” Sasha chimed in.

“You look bitchin’ every day and today is no different.” Tim emphasized this with a pair of fingerguns.

Martin shook his hands in front of him and closed his eyes, taking a sharp breath in and out. Sasha assumed that he was internalizing this support, as she had also done this whenever he had to work through his nerves to do something difficult.

Now that Jon is close enough to the group, their conversation forcefully shifts so that he doesn’t hear what the group was just discussing. Tim waves at him again and shouts a greeting. Jon raised his head slightly as their group made it clear that they had seen him. He quickened his pace to meet them sooner.

“Hey, boss! We didn’t think you’d make it!” Tim said to Jon when they were finally within speaking range of each other. Jon huffed and pushed his sunglasses further up on his face. He spoke in a more apologetic tone than his initial body language conveyed. 

“I understand where you might have gotten that impression, in retrospect. Upon reviewing my actions these past two weeks and my lack of communication with the group, It would have been safe to assume that I would be a no- show, as it were.” Jon rested the foldable chair on the ground to the side of him. He glanced over at the set up that the three of them had already started making for themselves. “Do you mind if I…” Jon gestures over to the direction with a nod of his head. 

“Oh- Yes, of course!” Martin said. “I’m sure there’s still room for you under the umbrella if you want to set up your chair under there. Unless you wanted sunlight, in that case you could just set it up anywhere you like, I guess.” 

“I’m sure I’ll be able to pick a spot on my own,” Jon waved at Martin dismissively, but then stopped. “Uh- Thank you for thinking of me, even If I was unclear about my attendance.”

Tim smiled and crossed their arms. “Yeah, we’re glad you showed up after all is said and done. Sasha told us that after she had sent a follow up email to you asking if you would come, all you replied with was, ’We’ll see.’” Tim did their best impression of Jon, one that they had practiced on Sasha a few times. Jon was not amused. This didn’t discourage Tim, however, and they unfolded their arms to gesticulate as they continued. “I mean, talk about  _ vague _ . If I were-”

Tim cut themself off abruptly. They not-so-subtly gave him a quick once over, and Sasha could see why. Though it would have been absurd if Jon were to show up at the beach in a suit and tie, It was completely unusual for them all to have seen Jon dressed so casually. Sasha’s prediction of Jon being dressed with more layers than Martin was incorrect, but only by a small margin. 

He wore the same kind of swimming trunks that Martin was, albeit the purple trim that ran down the sides of it. His gray tank top had a green symbol on it that read as “WTG?!” if you read the question mark and exclamation points as stylized ghosts. His sunglasses were of the same style as usual glasses that he wore on a chain, but instead secured around his head with straps. Sasha found that the most peculiar part of his outfit might have been the sunhat that he wore on his head, loosely fastened with a string going underneath his jaw. At least, that's what she thought until Tim made their own remark about his ensemble.

“Wait, Jon- What are those?” Tim pointed at Jon’s feet.

  
“They are my crocs, Tim.” Jon says in a voice so bored that Sasha could swear that it was forced. They were black croc sandals, a step up from what is usually expected from the brand, but crocs were crocs and they demanded to be mocked.

“I think they’re... nice?” Sasha reasoned with Tim, not entirely believing what she said. The crocs weren’t a  _ bad _ look, but it’s the reputation that crocs carry with them that Sasha knew Jon would be subject to bullying because of it.

Tim puckered up their lips, put their hands on their hips, and put his body in a contrapposto pose, impersonating a primary school bully. “I think they’re horrible.”  
  
Sasha scoffed at them, knowing very well that they still had their own pair of crocs back at their house. “You just have a vendetta against them because they gave you blisters the _one time_ you wore them while hiking.” 

“And they’d give anyone blisters if they wore them without socks!” Tim said defensively. A bit of a smile crept onto Jon’s lips when they said this.  
  
“And here I thought the epitome of fashion was reprimanding my shoe choice.” Jon hasn’t used this level of sass on Tim since they worked in research together. Sasha was ecstatic. 

Tim crossed their arms again and shrugged. “Hey, I never wore them with socks! I’m just saying that, uh... “

The sound of quick rummaging brought their conversation to a halt. At some point, Martin had slipped away from their group to rearrange the beach towels, leaving a blank space under the umbrella. He was deep into his own bag at this point, taking out cucumber sandwiches stowed away in plastic wrap and other packed goods without much consideration as to how he handled them. 

“Martin,” Sasha started to speak when Martin overturned his bag entirely, dumping the rest of the contents onto the sand. “What are you doing?” 

He turned around and let out an exasperated sigh. “I think I forgot my sunscreen. I can’t find it anywhere in my belongings and I was certain that I packed it!”

Jon's face scrunched up. Even with his sun hat and shades obscuring his face you could see it. "You really forgot sunscreen for a beach trip?" 

Sasha glances at Tim before she could think about it.

Martin scratches his cheek and avoids any kind of eye contact. "Yeah, I know, I know. Melanin doesn't make your skin impervious to UV rays and all that. I guess I was just so busy with everything else that it just slipped my mind." Martin shrugged sheepishly. 

Jon was unamused. He didn't answer Martin; a long pause was held between them as if Jon was scanning Martin's brain, looking to see if he was going to add anything else to his story. Or maybe Jon was just running through a list of insults in his head and was choosing the most tactful one. Sasha was just about to offer her own when she heard Jon huff and began rummaging into his own bag. 

"You do realize how stupid that was, right?" Sasha smugly glanced at Tim, who returned it with an apologetic smile and a shrug. "Luckily for you I did so happen to bring sun tan lotion for myself. I suppose you're not too inept to need someone else to apply your sunscreen for you?"

Sasha remembered Tim’s teasing from earlier. Was this actually happening? Did she hear that right?

Martin paused briefly before answering nervously, "Well I mean if you're offering, are you?"

Martin you absolute madman.

Jon stopped rummaging through his bag and scowled at Martin. 

"You do realize you're admitting to being inept, right?" Tim rolled their eyes and let out a huff. Both of them know his humor is drier than most people’s, but he can sometimes push the line between humour and bullying. 

Jon goes back to digging through his bag. "Seriously, Martin, you learn about sunscreen from such a young age. You really need to be more careful- Ah, here it is." Jon pulls his hand out of his belongings and reveals a spray can of sunscreen.

Martin was not prepared for spray sunscreen.

Jon starts shaking the can of sunscreen, rattling "It can be a bit difficult spraying the back of your legs with the can upside down, so if you need me to help you apply it then I am willing to do so." 

"I could probably- Erm, yeah." Martin walked up to Jon, not exactly looking like he’s quite aware of the events happening around him. So much has happened to him within the past two minutes, and Sasha can understand. Martin had just been handed a beach movie trope on a silver platter and had taken it, only to get curved by his crush, who was either completely oblivious or very polite in ignoring his tomfoolery. 

Jon finished shaking the can and looked at Martin expectantly. At least, She thinks so. It’s hard to read his expressions a lot of the time, and the sunglasses and hat make it even harder. "Right then. T pose."

"What?" Is all that Martin could say.

Jon sighs, as if what he had just said made perfect sense without his explanation. "Make a T shape with your body by extending both of your arms at your sides so they are parallel to the ground. It's more efficient and it allows me to spray your body evenly."

Besides Jon, none of them know what to make of this situation. Martin T poses for Jon. It hurts Sasha’s head to think about having to comprehend this. Jon starts spraying him with sunscreen, occasionally telling him to turn around when he needed to spray the other side of him and to spread his legs further apart.

Tim leaned over to Sasha and mouthed some words, but she couldn’t understand what they tried to tell her. When Sasha just responded with a quizzical look, they mouthed the words more exaggerated than before.

“Tim, I can’t read lips. Just say it” Sasha whispered to him as quietly as she could. Tim just grimaced and shook their head. 

“Are we almost done? My arms are getting a bit tired.” Martin says as he turns around to face Jon again.

Jon shook the can once again. “Nearly. Now, close your eyes and mouth.”

It took a moment for Martin to respond. “...What?”

“The last part that I need to cover in sunscreen is your face, so I’m telling you to brace yourself. Close your eyes and lean down a bit for me?”

Martin glanced at Tim and Sasha for a second before following his instructions. To Sasha, it would almost look like Martin was leaning down for a kiss if it weren’t for Jon pointing sunscreen directly at his face. 

‘This doesn’t seem like the best way to do this,’ she thought to herself. Martin must have been thinking the same thing, because he started to try and talk Jon out of this.

“Wait Jon, don’t you think that it would be best if I did this myself-” Martin opened his eyes and leaned back a bit, but he spoke too late. Jon sprayed him directly in his eyes and open mouth. 

“GAH!” Martin cried out in pain. He shut his eyes and started spitting out the sunscreen. Jon stumbled backwards, his brows furrowed in worry. 

All Sasha and Tim can do is look on in horror as the scene unfolds. Jon bombards Martin with a mix of “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” “You don’t need to T pose anymore, you need to flush your eyes,” and “Why did you open your eyes? I told you I was going to spray your face!” Martin responded with a mix of “Jon, what the hell?”, “You know I could have sprayed it on my hands and rubbed it on my face,” and “I know, that was stupid, but I was trying to tell you I changed my mind.” Overall, this was a very unpleasant situation for everyone.

Even with all of the chaos going on around her, and with the bad circumstances in mind, she couldn’t help but think that Jon was being… Unusually cute. There have been times that they have seen Jon flustered before, and has even caught him going out of his way to feed a stray animal a little while away from the institute. But she doesn’t think that she’d ever seen Jon this attentive to anyone’s needs anymore. But then again, it is also because he hurt Martin by accident and is the reason his eyes and mouth is stinging wildly. Thinking about this brought her back into the present.

Martin grabbed one of the water bottled and flushed out both of his eyes, blinking while making a pained expression. Jon stands beside him, wringing his hands and hunching his shoulders. “Did you, uh- are you alright?”

Martin paused, thinking about what to say. “Well, I've been better.” Sasha knew that that was a code word for bad. She felt like a party host that had had to juggle all of her guests, keeping them happy. Right now, she felt a heavy weight in her stomach that wouldn’t go away. She was going to have to distract them.

“Uh, Martin? Didn’t you say you had something special planned for us when we were all here? I don’t believe you ever elaborated on that?”

“Oh?” Martin asked. After a bit of thought, he realized what she meant. 

"Oh!" he exclaimed, and bounded over to the towels and umbrella they had begun to set up. Kneeling down, he brought his backpack onto his lap and started going through it. Sasha shot Tim a quizzical look, to which he responded with a shrug. Martin began to empty his backpack in his search, setting aside a small notepad, an assortment of different colored pens and pencils, and a very basic first aid kit. Eventually, he produced a small plastic box and held it up triumphantly.  
  
“A polaroid camera?” Jon asked. 

“Yup!” Martin took off the backside of the plastic box and quickly shut it back into place. “I’m glad I thought to add film to the camera before coming here, otherwise loading it would probably fill it up with sand.” He let out a nervous chuckle, then flipped open the front of the plastic box to reveal the lens, sight, and flashbar of the camera. Now it was much more recognizable for what it was. To be honest, Sasha had no idea how Jon was able to identify it as quickly as he did. Peeking his eye through the sight of the camera, Martin looked around the landscape.   
  
“Are you going to be taking pictures of the beach?” Sasha asked.

Martin fiddled with a button on the side of the camera and continued to look through it. “Well, if you want me too, I suppose I could! But, er… That wasn’t the exact reason why I brought it.” Martin lowered the camera from his eyes and sheepishly looked at the three of them. “I was thinking, you know, this is the first time that we’ve all hung out outside of work together- Unless, there was another time. I could have forgotten. But, anyways! I was thinking it would be *cool* if we could, you know, take a selfie together.” Martin’s voice turned upwards, as if the last thought was a question rather than a statement. Jon was the first one to speak up. 

“Martin, in your email you said the phrase, ‘self conch us.’ Was that supposed to be a pun?"

“I was wondering the same thing!” Sasha blurted out. Tim nudged her with his elbow. Sasha quickly added on, “But that’s a little bit off-topic, don’t you think?”  
  
“I- um… right,” Jon said.

“Well, Martin, I personally love that idea.” Tim makes a rectangle with his two thumbs and pointer fingers, making the motion of snapping a picture. “Taking photos on phones just isn’t as satisfying as pressing the button and hearing that ‘chh cht’.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Martin got up from where he was kneeling and walked towards where the rest of the group was standing. “So, would you like to take a picture before, you know-” 

“Before the surf beats us up past recognition?” Tim interjected.

“Right, before then!” Martin let out a short chuckle. 

Sasha nodded to show her interest. She always liked more tangible means of collecting memories and processing events, so the polaroid picture would probably help her hold onto this moment more clearly. 

They gathered around Martin, who did some last minute adjustments to the aperture and zoom of the lens. Once he was satisfied, he pointed the camera towards the three of them and stretched a single arm out. Sasha, being the tallest one of the four, made her way toward the back of the group between Tim and Martin. She draped her arm around Tim and gave a small wave with her left hand as Tim's hand came to rest on her hip. It would most likely be hidden by Martin’s body in the photograph, but she was reassured by his presence nonetheless. Martin angled himself towards the far side of the frame and focused the camera towards the rest of them. 

“I don’t normally take pictures of myself, so I hope this turns out alright.”

Sasha offered Martin some words of reassurance. “Well, we won’t know until the film develops. Go ahead and shoot!”

“Well, alright! Everybody, say cheese!” Martin drew out the last word, calling attention to the long overused phrase. Sasha and Tim joined in with Martin to create a harmony of cheeses. He pressed down on the shutter and the camera clicked. Out popped the picture, still in the process of developing. The group relaxed and fell out of their poses. They separated slightly to watch Martin take the polaroid out of the camera slot and start to shake it. Slowly, the picture developed. 

“Oh good, I’m glad that we didn’t crop anyone out awkwardly.” Sasha noted. The figures in the photograph were still rather dark compared to the bright background, but they had managed to keep everyone within the center of the frame. When she was able to distinguish more details within the photo, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Tim, are you giving Jon the hover hand treatment?” Sasha asked. Surely enough, Tim’s hand is resting about 10 centimeters above Jon’s shoulder.

“That was very much intentional, I can assure you of that.” Jon huffed.

Tim shook his head in mock shame. “Jon pushed my hand away when I put it on his shoulder.”

“And I would appreciate it if you would respect the boundaries I put in place. I am still  your boss, after all.”

“And are bosses banned from smiling in pictures too?” Tim pointed at the still developing photograph. Sasha could see Jon scowling in the picture, and when she looked back at Jon, he was making the exact same face. She fought the urge to laugh even harder.

[picture of the photograph]

(art by @antivenom_arts on Instagram and Tumblr)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Karu/happyfunballxd](https://happyfunballxd.tumblr.com/post/636668947932004352/my-first-pic-for-the-tma-bb-from) made some really fun art of one of my favorite moments in the fic!! It's so cute and it makes me smile every time I see it (even though they're both suffering). Look!!!  
>   
> My third and final artist is [poppet/antiv3nom](https://antiv3nom.tumblr.com/), who drew the polaroid picture that Martin took! Again, thank you so much it makes me so happy every time I look at it!!  
> 
> 
> I made a reference sheet/character lineup of my designs for the s1 squad's designs and appearances- I'll link it when it's posted!
> 
> Thank you all for the support for my little fic! This is the longest thing I've ever written and it's making me very excited to know that I get to share it with all of you. It's been so much fun participating in the tma big bang and i'd love to do it again next year if i get the chance.  
> The last two chapters are still works in progress, so my next update is December 26th. That way I have enough time to finish writing and enough time for my betas to look over the drafts before I post them. Thank you thank you thank you!! I wish I could update this fic faster but I want to make sure I don't miss anything before I post it. Thank you for your patience, happy Hanukkah, and have a wonderful holiday season all around!


	3. Riptide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone enjoys their vacation time the same way. Some relax, some play, and some sleep the day away. The point is, you have to stop working. But the thing is, no one holds the same definition of work. Some people work at their job, some work on their sense of self, some put work into their relationships, and some people work themselves to the bone to make everyone happy.
> 
> (cw: drowning/near-drowning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cordially invite you to my Jonsasha party. We have snacks, books, computer chips- all edible!  
> Big shoutout to my cool beta kingofghosting who wrote a really cool fan-statement,  
> [ "Six Feet Under",](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingofghosting/pseuds/kingofghosting)  
> that i reference in this chapter! It was alluded to in chapter 1 and we finally get the payoff! I'd recommend reading it.  
> And another round of applause for my betas for helping me make sense of my 3 am writings and to switch pronouns halfway through the chapter on really short notice you're amazing you're everything I love you.

Now that they were all together, they could finally plan out their day. Sasha, Tim, and Martin led the conversation while Jon set up his chair and other belongings. Tim was the expert on this area, so all questions were directed at him. He told them about his favourite places to eat and the other attractions that were offered to the public. 

One store he wanted them to see was a practical joke shop, where he promised that none of them would leave without busting a gut over something they had inside. There would normally] An ice cream vendor liked to set up outside the shop, where they had a ridiculous amount of ice cream, sorbet, frozen yoghurt, and other treats for them to try. This drove Martin to bring up his birthday ice cream again, so Sasha announced that he would be the one to spring for the check if they went there. 

Their discussion drifted to what they could do on the beach until then. Collecting seashells was already on the list of activities that Martin wanted to do, so he suggested that they do that while the tide was still low. Sasha also brought up the rock pools that Tim mentioned earlier, and how they could probably see some living creatures in there if they walked over there as soon as they were ready. But taking either option meant that they had to leave the other behind.

“Well, either one is fine with me,” Tim said. He turned over to Jon and asked, “Hey Jon, could you be the tiebreaker for this one?”

Jon had already finished setting his chair under the umbrella and was taking things out of his bag. “Oh- Well, I’m impartial to either choice. I suppose the seashells would be the better option if you would want to have a few souvenirs of the trip. I don’t advise disrupting the local ecosystem in the rock pools if you wanted a souvenir from that area.” He stopped to think, tapping a pen he pulled out of his bag against his chin. “Then again, you could find seashells on any seashore. If you were to explore the rock pools, you could observe some very interesting creatures that you would normally only see in an aquarium.” 

Well, it seemed like they would have to keep listing the pros and cons about what to do next, since Jon was going to be as neutral as Tim was.

_ ‘Wait, why would Jon have a pen with him? Unless he accidentally kept it in his bag for emergencies, he wouldn’t need one on the beach.’ _ Sasha brought her attention back to Jon and saw that he was unpacking manilla folders filled with statements and a tape recorder. 

“Jon, what are you doing?” Sasha was tempted to add onto this and say ‘Show me what you have,’ the same way you might try to stop a cat from eating plastic.

“What?” Jon stared at the three of them, then back to his belongings. “Oh, I um. I brought some work to the beach. I thought that I might as well remain productive while getting some much needed outdoor time.”

“Did you even read my essay?” Sasha asked, feigning offence in her voice. She thought that he might try something like this if he did come. “My first citation explained that vacation days aren’t effective if you bring your work along with you.”

“I also told you that I had a lot of work to get to this weekend, and I decided that I would make a compromise. I would come to the beach with you all if I didn’t swim and spend most of my time recording statements.” 

Tim groaned. “Oh give it a rest, Jon! All of us promised to leave our work behind us as soon as we stepped foot on the beach. Mentally  _ and _ physically. All of this-” Tim gesticulated with his hands. “-it’s dragging you down. You’re gonna pop a blood vessel if you don’t put down your work and relax for one day.”

“We don’t even need to work on weekends,” Martin added quietly. “You treat Saturday and Sunday like it’s a special time to work while there’s no one else in the institute. Well, other than me since, you know…” 

“But it is!” Jon stood up, still holding onto his tape recorder. “It’s a lot quieter and no one interrupts me, so why not take advantage of it?” 

“ _ You _ need to take advantage of the vacation days you’ve never used.” Tim’s face became serious. He walked towards Jon and almost stood toe to toe with him. “You’ll drive yourself mad, you know.” 

Jon scowled and his body tensed up. He clenched and unclenched his hands, not saying a word. He raised his head. “Fine. I understand. If you don’t trust me to take care of myself, then I’ll prove to you that I can relax.” 

In one swift motion, he turned around and snatched his phone from his belongings. He held it out for all of them to see and then pressed the power button down until it turned off. Tim nodded in approval. 

“Wonderful. Now none of us can be distracted by our phones.” Tim smiled and added, “I’m glad I didn’t have to confiscate it like a primary school teacher.” 

This comment only got Jon more steamed. “Oh sure, treat me like a child because I want to work while at the beach. I can self-regulate just fine, thank you very much.”

Tim took a step back. “Ah- boss I didn’t mean it like that.” He rubbed his hand behind his head guiltily. “I am really not having a good day with this kind of stuff, am I?” He desperately looked at both Sasha and Martin. Martin just grimaced and shook his head. 

“No, not really,” Sasha added bluntly. 

“I wasn’t planning on using my phone anyways, I only used it to help me navigate to the beach. I would rather not waste the batteries out here when I can’t even see what’s on the screen with it being so sunny out.”

“Alright, but will you hang out with us?” Tim gave Jon that classic Stoker Smile™ that he used on Sasha all too often. There was another pause, and Tim held his grin the whole time.

After a bit of thought, Jon finally answered. “...I’ll swim if it makes you all happy.” 

Sasha took this as a victory. There were little ways that he spoke that she knew weren’t meant to be cold, just blunt. Jon went back to his chair and took his sunglasses off- the first time she’s actually seen him without any eyewear. Without waiting for any of them to follow him, he started making his way to the shoreline. 

Sasha called after him, but he didn’t respond. “Wait, Jon- We didn’t even decide on what to do yet! ...Well, there he goes.” 

Sasha raised her hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. By the time he got to the shore… well, he didn’t exactly walk into the ocean. It was more like he approached the small waves that lapped against the sand and quickly scurried away every time they rose too quickly around him. It’s probably for the best, anyway. He didn’t even take off his crocs before going into the water.

“Well, it looks like Jon’s a rogue agent.” Tim stretched his shoulders and tilted his neck, and Sasha could hear a cadence of pops as he cracked his neck. She always winced when he did this, even though he always reassured her that it wasn’t painful. “I’m still indecisive about what we can do, but If we want to try to hang out with Jon more, I think we’d have better luck collecting seashells.”

The three of them looked back and forth between each other. Sasha brought her hand to her mouth and rubbed her upper lip, feeling the discomfort that was in the air. The tensions between everyone and Jon hadn’t been resolved quite yet, and she knew that Jon storming off wasn’t going to help at all. None of them really considered Jon joining to be a possibility and none of them were prepared for it. 

Sasha wanted to fix this. She might not have any kind of read on how to act around Jon outside of work, but the same went for Martin. He seemed to be enjoying the time with everyone, so she must’ve been doing social interaction correctly so far. Right? 

Right. 

Even so, It didn’t make sense that the three of them couldn’t at least enjoy their time with each other. She was thinking of ways that she could improve the situation and thought of solutions that had worked in the past. Running through all of them in her head made her realise how many of them were work-related. But that didn’t mean that it couldn’t work in a different environment. Why not work with her old tricks in a new way?

It might be juvenile, but she had an idea that might lift the mood. 

“Before we do anything...” Sasha walked confidently over to where Jon had set up his area and picked up his sunglasses. She put them on her face and said, “Let’s make fun of Jon again.”

As soon as she opened her eyes and looked through the lenses, she felt a sharp pain in the front of her brain. She took them off immediately and rubbed her now strained eyes, not entirely sure what happened. “Ow, what the-”

Tim immediately rushed to her side with Martin following closely behind him. Tim offered his arm for Sasha to steady herself on, but she waved him away.

“I’m fine, it’s not that bad. Although, I feel like if I wore them any more, then I’ll start to get a headache.” She held the sunglasses in front of her face, giving the frame a closer look. Upon closer inspection, they weren’t just sunglasses. They were the exact pair of glasses he wore for his vision.

“Here, you try them.” Sasha smiled and handed them off to Tim, who tried them on immediately. He laughed and his eyes started to water, but he didn’t take them away from his face. 

“Oh wow, is Jon’s eyesight really this bad?” Tim looked at Martin through the glasses; the thick lens making his eyes larger than they actually were.

Martin spoke cautiously. “Maybe we shouldn’t be playing with his glasses like this. I heard that they can get really expensive.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But... you should definitely try them on before we put them back where we found them.” Tim took the glasses off of his face and blinked rapidly, tears streaming down his face. One of his coloured contacts was briefly stuck to his upper eyelid, but he was able to put it back into place. Sasha cringed. He then offered the glasses in Martin’s direction.

“You mean, ‘where Jon left them’?” Martin asked, to which Tim waved his hand dismissively. With some hesitation, Martin accepted the glasses from Tim, giving him an opening to take his contacts out and put them back in their case. Martin raised the lenses to his face and gasped. He broke out into a huge smile and danced in place, wiggling his entire body. 

“Everything is so crisp! What the hell?!” Martin laughed quickly and did a double-take and looked down at the ground beneath his feet. 

“I can count the grains of sand individually! I don’t have to squat down to see them clearly!” Sasha noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Jon was coming back towards the group. Martin’s excitement was bubbling, so much that it had probably caught Jon’s attention. Tim was so engrossed in watching Martin’s happiness that Sasha was the only one to notice him approaching. Martin continued to speak excitedly, looking all around him now.

“These are like binoculars but you don’t have to press them uncomfortably against your face! Look over there, that’s a family headed to the boardwalk! And I can see Jon so clearly too, he’s coming towards us- Oh.” 

Now that Jon was close enough, she could see that he was not happy. He stomped towards them, his legs flinging sand wildly in his wake. The sand stuck uncomfortably to his legs where he’d let the water wash over them, and Sasha’s skin itched uncomfortably just looking at them. She didn’t have enough time to think about what to say or do when he finally got to them all, demanding answers.

“What are you doing with my glasses?”

Crap. Her attempt at humour backfired, and she found herself within yet another awkward situation with Jon. She crossed out “do impersonations of Jon” from her internal list of social interactions that can entertain a crowd. She knew that she had to apologize before the situation got worse. 

“I’m sorry Jon, I- We were trying on your glasses. We thought that they were just sunglasses and when we found out that they were actually transition lenses, we got carried away.” Sasha looked at the ground behind Jon during her whole apology. She felt a bit better when she avoided eye contact with him specifically because they had talked about their shared experience on the subject. 

Jon’s shoulders dropped, his anger tempered by her apology. “Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal. I was worried that they might get damaged more than anything. Transition lenses are rather expensive.”

Martin muttered a singsong, “Told you~” in Tim’s direction. 

“I stand corrected.” Tim bowed slightly to both Jon and Martin before continuing. “I just wanted to see how bad your eyesight was. Speaking of which…” He held up a peace sign and took a step away from Jon. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Jon rolled his eyes. "Two- Tim, I can still see your hands and count the fingers on it. They're a bit blurry, but that's the extent of my nearsightedness." 

Tim said teasingly, "So you can't just… Focus your eyes?" 

"No. Unfortunately, the fiber optics in the human retina are not as reliable and consistent as a factory-grade camera or a cellphone camera."

Martin stepped forward and raised a question. "Wait, so nearsighted people see things more...blurry… when they're far away, right?"

Jon nodded. "Right."

This was a simple statement, but Martin’s demeanour changed into something more thoughtful. He chose his next few words carefully. "So… how far away can you see before things start to get blurry?"

Jon paused. "Hm… Let's see." Jon folded his glasses and tucked them into the collar of his tank top. He held up his hand 10 centimetres away from his face.

"Well, at this point I can see my hand perfectly clear. But as things get farther away..." Jon slowly moved his hand away from him until it's barely 30 centimetres from his face. "This is the point where my vision starts to get blurry."

All three of them, especially Sasha and Tim, were shocked. They were all silent, looking at Jon expectantly. All he did was unfold his glasses and put them back on his face, tightening the sports band and securing them around his head. Jon glanced back and forth between the three of them, who were just beginning to grasp the reality of what he just said.

“No way.” Tim paused before he forcibly laughed. “You’ve got to be joking.” He crossed his arms and glanced around between the three of them. His eyes settled on Jon, who only shook his head. 

Sasha had to physically shake herself out of the stupor so she could reply. "I had no idea your eyesight was that bad."

While Tim and Sasha tried to collect themselves, Martin was mimicking the same movements Jon did earlier. He slowly moved his hand away from his face until his arm was almost fully extended away from him. He then moved it closer to his face, about the same distance Jon had before, and dropped his arm to his side. "That's way too close to your face! How did you survive without glasses until you got them?"

"My g-” Jon stopped suddenly, as if catching himself from saying something out of line. “I have needed glasses since I was young. It worsened with time, and…"

While he gave his explanation, Sasha ran over to grab one of the case files and grabbed a random paper out of the file. She stood a meter away from him and asked, "Okay, what does this say?" 

Jon rolled his eyes and took his glasses off. In a very slow and careful voice, he read what he saw. “Statement no.0090705 of one Bernard Aster, regarding the deaths within Jasmine Landscaping. Statement given July-”

Sasha stopped him before he could continue. “Okay, cheater. You were only able to make it that far because you’ve read the overview plenty of times.” Sasha flipped to a random page in the handwritten letters and faced it towards Jon. “How about this?”

Jon squinted and took a few cautious steps towards the paper. Sasha took the same amount of steps backwards. Realising he wasn’t going to be getting any closer to the paper, he stopped and dug his heels into the sand. His eyes washed over the words on the page, reaching for clarity among the blurred mess of written letters. 

“My father, erm… Jacob Blake, so sheepishly... already a very likely man... leaving jobs… so he… my father…” Jon shook his head in defeat. “I’m sorry, that’s all I could parse from this distance.”

Martin had also leaned in to look at the statement at the same distance. “It’s hard for me to see too, but I think what you read as ‘likely’ actually says lively.” Sasha craned her head over the piece of paper to read it upside down.

“I have no idea where you two got either of those words. This section is Bernard talking trash about Jacob Blake, and he’s not his father.” 

“ _ Their _ father,” Jon interjected.

“Hm?” 

“I skimmed this statement earlier this week and noticed that Bernard doesn’t use any pronouns.” 

“Oh? When I was doing research on Jasmine Landscaping, Bernard was addressed in reviews using all kinds of pronouns, including he/him.” This was true. She even found one of the statement giver’s social media and saw that they were comfortable with any pronouns. Though she probably shouldn’t mention this, because some people regard it as a breach of privacy. That didn’t stop Sasha from feeling uncomfortable about the situation she was in. She hoped that she wasn’t mistaken, or that Jon would understand her thought process. 

It seemed that he did understand, after all. More than that, he was struggling to keep his composure. “It’s a good thing that no one was misgendered, but I just... I think it’s a good practice to use they/them pronouns when addressing someone you don’t know the pronouns of. If they opt-out of sharing their pronouns, then you should take note of that.” His voice began to waver as he continued. 

“For example, if you receive an email from someone with an autofill signature and the signature has a blank space where pronouns would normally be…”

Sasha didn’t quite understand why Jon was trying to educate her on the subject. Her partner had already had this conversation with her, along with an additional conversation about people using multiple sets of pronouns and how you should alternate between them. She knew that there was a reason they were saying this, but Jon was never one to be open with their feelings. Before Sasha could ask what they were getting at, they changed the subject. 

“Either way, what was it that I just read?” 

Tim, who had repositioned himself in the back of the impromptu eye exam, answered their question by reading what was on the paper. 

_ “I quickly learned why my father hated Jacob Blake so deeply. He was already a very flaky man, leaving jobs before they were finished and doing a shit job on properties that had infestations. But I think part of the reason he had gotten a job at Jasmine Landscaping is because of my mother.” _

“Alright, Mx. 2020 vision, you can stop showing off.” Sasha smiled and lowered the paper. 

“No, wait! It’s just starting to get juicy.” Tim pleaded with Sasha, stopping her from putting away the statement entirely. She humoured him and raised the paper again. He smiled and continued to dictate the statement, much to Jon’s dismay.

_ “They used to be high school friends, and he was very obviously interested in her. So he got a job at her company, only for her to marry my father, Isaac. I think that’s another reason why he hated my father. Other than the fact that my father was a jerk. Jacob stopped coming to work about a year after my employment. I think I reminded him too much of her.” _

Tim whistled. “Wow, they really have some family drama going on, huh?”

“Well, that’s enough of that," Jon declared. 

Sasha wasn't even aware that Jon strode their way over to her until they snatched the documents right out of her hand. Her hands were still pinched where she held the files taught. Jon had given her a smug look before putting the files in the correct order, which made Sasha feel... 

Well, Sasha wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it. A little bit annoyed, perhaps, but something else too. A warm energy in her chest, fizzing a bit. It lingered as Jon and the others talked for a bit longer. She didn’t pay much attention to what the group was saying; Just a bit of small talk as Jon was packing their belongings. Which was just as well because she was more focused on making sure this sudden lightness she felt wouldn’t reveal itself to the group.

“Martin,” Jon said, turning to face an attentive Martin. “You said earlier that you were having trouble seeing the statement from the same distance, correct?”

“Um, yeah. Why’d you ask?”

“I would highly advise you to schedule an appointment with an eye doctor and get fitted for a pair of glasses or contacts. It makes a world of difference, and… Maybe it could help you in your work?”

“Oh, maybe…” Martin chuckled to himself. “I’ve always had trouble reading the board when I was in primary school, this really explains why that was the case.”

Jon’s voice softened slightly when they replied; the same tone that they used when they offered to let Martin stay in the archives. “I… I think you should schedule an appointment with an optometrist.” 

\----

In retrospect, the group took way too much time to figure out what they were going to do. Sasha, Tim, and Martin were going to swim in the water while Jon relaxed underneath the shade of the umbrella. Jon waved them off and reclined on the chair they’d bought for themself. They folded their glasses and tucked them in the collar of their shirt. While the rest of them prepared to go into the ocean Jon shifted around, first tilting their hat over their eyes, then placing their rolled-up towel over them, until finally settling on a combination of both.

They all made sure they got everything they needed: Sasha brought her goggles, Tim grabbed his boogie board, and Martin brought along himself. They all wished Jon a good nap, to which they responded with an unintelligible grumble and a wave. They folded their hands on their stomach and the rest of them headed off. 

When Tim and Sasha reached the water, the tide buffeted their shins. One particularly big wave caught Tim slightly off guard and he had to adjust his footing to stay put. Sasha turned to Tim out of reflex, ready to catch him if need be, but Tim just gave her a smile and a thumbs up.

Once they’d become acquainted with the flow of the tide, they waded in up to their waists.  Sasha turned around to see Martin making his way into the waves as well, who was better at keeping his balance against the crashing waves than Tim was. 

The sun beat down on them all, reflecting off the surface of the waves. A duality of heat and cold to mitigate each other; not neutralizing, but balancing. The rushing water around them made it hard to see, but Sasha knew that the oil from the sunscreen would be separating itself from her skin and dispersing itself in the water. She smelled it less strongly among the salty mist of the waves, but she also knew that once she got her face wet it would seep into her lashes. 

But the heat waves gently rolled over her shoulders and made the water all the more inviting. She curled her body into a ball, floating through the ocean gently. Her head bobbed above the surface and her feet didn’t touch the ground.

As she continued further into the ocean, she could see Jon where they had left him on the beach chair. He had thrown the towel off of his eyes and was busy fishing through his belongings. Surely enough, he brought the statement and tape recorder to his lap. Sasha didn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. 

“Well, that was short-lived.” 

Tim turned around and looked as well, letting out a huff of air when he realized what was happening. “I’m not gonna bother trying to get him to relax anymore. If he wants to run himself ragged, then he can do that to himself.  _ He’s _ missing out.”

Tim crouched slightly before taking a deep breath. In a gentle, underwater hop, he submerged himself in the water. Sasha peered into the water and saw his underwater silhouette swimming deeper out to sea in a backstroke. An elementary backstroke, one that her students affectionately nicknamed “the froggy kick.” Then he turned over facing the floor and stayed there for a moment. He stopped swimming further out and resurfaced again. 

Tim had a huge smile on his face when he said, “You guys have got to try this.” 

Sasha looked at Martin and gave him a smile. They both decided to humour Tim and fully submerged themselves underwater. Sasha hadn’t put her goggles over her eyes yet so she made sure to close her eyes. When she resurfaced she rubbed her eyes, making sure to wipe away any water that had built up in her eyelashes before opening them. When she did she saw Martin resurfacing as well, and Tim looking at the both of them expectantly.

“Well? Did you see it?” 

Martin furrowed his brow. “No...? I had my eyes closed.” 

Tim laughed. “Open your eyes next time, then!” 

Ah, so it was something he saw. Sasha started putting her goggles around her head when Martin raised a concern. “Isn’t it bad for your eyes to open them underwater? With all the salt in the ocean, it can’t be good.” 

Sasha secured her goggles over her eyes before correcting him. “Well, in my experience, saltwater won’t make your eyes sting that much. It’s chlorine from pools that’ll kill your eyes.”

“Okay, I’d believe you if you weren’t putting on goggles when you said that.”

Well, he did have a point. Still, it wasn't the sting of the salt that made Sasha bring her goggles to the ocean. “Well, I really only use these because the water gets stuck in my eyelashes.” The two of them gave them blank looks, not responding. “Okay, maybe that requires a bit of an explanation. I’ve always had abnormally long eyelashes- feather dusters, even. The water used to get stuck in there and cause me a lot of stress and inhibit my swimming.” She coughed, feeling herself flush in embarrassment. “Anyways, the point is that If you want you could borrow mine.”

Martin crossed his arms and held them close to himself. “You brought them for yourself, I wouldn’t want to take them away from you when you were going to use them.”

_ ‘Martin needs to accept kindness from others _ ,’ Sasha thought. She resolved that she’ll at least try to do one small thing for him. “I was going to use them, but now that we know your eyes aren’t as good as ours, I feel like it would be best to preserve them from further damage-” She took the goggles off of her forehead and gave them to Martin. “-even if it’s not that much.”

He paused. “You sure?”

Sasha nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. Look, I’ll even show you that my eyes will be fine.”

Sasha took an exaggerated gulp of air and dove underwater. Opening her eyes made her realise that Martin was right about the sting of the ocean water. She was glad that he was wearing her goggles. Underwater, she expected it to be murky with some brown sand beneath them, but it was surprisingly clear. Many smooth rocks dotted the floor, all of them exhibiting a variety of earth tones. A few seashells were hidden in the sand, and she swore that she saw a few fish camouflage themselves into the sand below them. It was nothing like swimming through a coral reef, but it was a beautiful sight hidden among the mundane she saw on the daily that made her heart warm. 

A muted splash and eruption of bubbles around her alerted Sasha to Tim and Martin’s arrival underwater. Tim’s eyes were wide open, looking around on the ocean floor as if to verify that it was still as nice to see as it was the first time. Sasha waved at him and he waved back. She turned her attention towards Martin. Despite his goggles, his eyes were shut tight and his cheeks were puffed up full of air. Tim took Martin’s hand and gently shook it, causing him to open his eyes and look at Tim, unintentionally losing the pocket of extra air that he was storing in his cheeks. When Martin’s eyes finally met the floor of the ocean, his eyes lit up. He glanced back at Tim and Sasha, beaming with joy. 

They rose to the surface of the water for a quick gulp of air. As quickly as they all rose, Martin dove back underwater. Tim and Sasha followed suit. 

Martin, still holding onto Tim, ran his free hand through the ocean floor and stirred up a cloud of sand all around him. Tim waved his free hand and moved the cloud of sand into a swirling shape. Sasha joined in, and soon enough they worked together to create a vortex of sand between the three of them. After a moment of maintaining it, the force of a wave rolling towards the shore washed away their collaborative art.

Sasha let out a few air bubbles while she laughed, eyes scrunching up from the size of her smile. She was so happy. It was extremely pointless and silly, but it was something they made together. What she wouldn’t give to have more moments like this with all of them...

Sasha and Martin made their way to the surface, Sasha accidentally spraying water from her mouth with her laughter. She wiped the water away from her eyes and slicked her hair behind her. She opened her eyes in time to see Tim splash Martin while he jumped out of the water. He cried out as the water splashed him, but laughed despite his verbal protests. He retaliated and splashed back at him.

“Hey Tim, come and check this out,” Sasha said as she cupped her hands underwater. Tim looked her way and nodded, giving Martin a small splash before making his way over to her. He's buffeted by a slightly bigger wave, letting it carry him closer to her. When he leaned over to peer into the water where she held her hands, Sasha squirted him in the face with a shot of water.

Tim grumbled and flicked water off of his face; a pointless endeavour because of their presence in the ocean shore. Martin snorted and swam closer to Sasha. “How did you do that?” 

“Here, let me show you.” Sasha cupped her hands underwater as Martin observed. “You see this shape I'm making with my hands?” Martin nodded and copied her movements. Without warning, Sasha squirted water directly in Martin’s face.

“I didn’t know what I expected,” Martin said and forced back a smile. He sunk deeper into the water and readied his hands. “But you made a grave mistake in teaching me how to do that-!” He let out a triumphant cry as he squirted her back. “And you shouldn’t have given me goggles! I have the upper hand!” Martin erupted into laughter.

Sasha and Martin go back and forth attacking each other with shots of water. They try to dodge out of the way dramatically; despite all of the Matrix slow-motion dodging that she tried, she mostly dodged into the water shots. All the while, Tim desperately tried to mimic the hand motions that they made, but nothing worked. Eventually, he gave up.

Sasha saw him sneak away but didn’t think much of it until he came back with his boogie board. Winding up and bringing the board behind him, he swung it towards them, splashing them both with a spray of water. Sasha shrieked, throwing her hands up to guard her face. Martin tried to retaliate with his own splash of water, but Tim raised his board in front of his face and blocked it from hitting him.

Martin pouted. “Cheater!” Tim laughed and slid himself on top of the boogie board like a seal. 

“You have your goggles as a shield for your eyes, it’s only fair that I get a defence too!” Tim floated on top of the waves, staying balanced on the board. Sasha was overcome with the urge to flip him over. In fact, that’s exactly what she did. 

“Ah! Hey, don’t do that! I might drown!” Tim exclaimed, clinging tightly to the board that was now on its side, sticking out awkwardly in the water. He looked ridiculous. 

“You’re not going to drown, Tim,” Sasha giggled. The more she looked at Tim floundering about, the more she laughed. It was infectious; it spread over to Martin, and finally Tim. Her heart was warm, and she was having the most fun she had had in months.

Tim scrambled to get back on top of the boogie board. After all residual giggles had died down, Tim asked, “Any of you two want to go further out to face the bigger waves?”

Sasha paused, then pointed to his sick ride. ”You’re the only one with a boogie board.” 

“Oh, this old thing? Who needs it? I certainly don’t.” To prove his point, Tim got off the boogie board and lifted it out of the water. He then flung it across the water like a frisbee and it hit the surface of the water closer to the shore with a sharp slap. 

From where they were looking now, Jon was pacing circles around the beach set up, papers and recorder in one hand and fidgeting with their hair with their free hand. Or, it might be more accurate to say that Jon was playing with their hair while they balanced holding the statement and recorder in one hand. 

“Oh they’re really deep into that statement, huh,” Tim says.

“Looks like it,” Sasha said. “Do they normally get that way? I don’t think I’ve interrupted them more than once.”

Tim humed lightly. “There was one time I didn’t announce myself before I entered and I found them walking laps around their desk like it was some sort of merry go round.”

The three of them laughed before Sasha said, “Well, I think I’m gonna go back into more shallow water and relax there. You two stay safe, alright?”

“Will do!” Martin said as Tim exclaimed, “Right-o!” Both of them said their goodbyes while Sasha dramatically let the ocean tides bring her back to the shore. 

  
  


\----

  
  


Sasha floated on her back, letting the waves gently wash over her. Her face was perfectly framed by the water she floated in. ‘Gimme the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in rock ‘n roll and drift away.’ There was something about the water that caused humankind to suspend itself in time and space. She liked this. At least she  _ did _ , until a wave came along and sprayed her face.

The tide was getting a bit stronger at this point. She stopped floating on her back and transitioned into a backwards stroke, swimming parallel to the shoreline. Concentrating on her strokes while keeping above the waves seemed to be the most difficult thing she had done this whole trip. She was glad that she was finally able to get a break. 

It’s interesting for Sasha to think about the path that led her to this point. She worked herself to the bone to get her to the place where she was, and she didn’t even know where she was heading. Her life’s path had been fluid enough to be able to go wherever the waters took her. But where was that direction? And what part of her life was moving? Her job and the people in her life had definitely changed within the past few years. She definitely hadn’t expected to work in the... No work talk, so that meant no work thoughts either. Her life had to be more than work, right? The people in her life shaped who she was and where she’s going. Well, was it the past girlfriends and partners that came and went from her life? If those things were different who would she be now?

What makes a person a person when you separate them from the people in their life and the work that they do? 

...Gosh she’s a nerd. She’s just swimming, where was she going with this?

After a while, she started swimming using a breaststroke in the opposite direction that she’d come. She supposed that if she swam too far away from where they had set up their towels, she would exhaust herself trying to get back. She’d gotten a bit peckish from all the swimming, so it only made sense to steer closer to the shore. Did Martin say he would bring gingersnaps or cucumbers? Maybe they could get something at one of the shops. 

She heard the soft shifting of sand suddenly growing audible around her. It was rhythmic, one after another, and then stopped. When the tide rolled up to the edge of the beach, she heard a concerned noise from behind her and the rapid crunching of wet sand. 

Someone must have walked to the shore and was close to her. Sasha stopped swimming and turned herself upright, which meant sitting waist-deep in shallow water.

It was Jon. They were wringing their hands nervously and looking down at her, a feeling Sasha wasn’t quite used to. They were without their hat and crocs but was otherwise dressed the same. When they realized that Sasha had taken notice of them, they gave her a meek wave.

“Ah, um. Hello, Sasha.”

“Hullo,” Sasha wasn’t quite sure what to say. She was still riding off of the high of being with Tim and Martin, and she hadn’t really thought about Jon most of that time. It made her feel guilty the more she considered that. She finally decided to ask, “You finished with the statement?” 

“No- I mean, yes. I finished the statement. It was ridiculous as always, and I think any more follow up research we put into it will have us turn up empty. No reason to-” They stopped speaking abruptly and coughed. “Now that I’ve finished, I thought it might be nice to go towards the ocean, away from all the earth and dirt- sand. The sand by the towels. I uh…”

Sasha let them continue to talk, but she knew they were talking themself in circles again. “Are you sure you didn’t want to just start swimming with us?”

“It’s not about the statement- I mean, yes I would like to- No I don’t think-” 

“Jon. You’re allowed to let yourself think- and breathe- before you speak.” Jon stopped speaking. Sasha tilted her head to the side and smiled. Jon stood there, clenching and unclenching their hands at their sides and looked around. She would give them as much time as they needed. After a bit more thought, they continued.

“I… Would like to spend time with you. All of you, I mean. I would just rather not get in the water.”

“Why not?”

“Em…”

There was something that they were hiding and Sasha desperately wanted to know what was going on inside of their head. She scooted herself closer to the shore, letting them know that she was ready to listen. She would wait for Jon to continue talking for as long as it would take them to gather their courage. But she had to admit, she was getting a little impatient. Eventually, they mumbled something that Sasha couldn’t hear.

“What was that?” Jon mumbled a bit louder and crossed their arms. Sasha hummed questioningly. Jon glanced back at her. She raised her eyebrows. They shut their eyes tight and curled in on themself.

“I said, I can’t swim.” Sasha blinked, giving herself time to absorb this information. Can’t swim at all? It’s something that she didn’t expect to hear from Jon, especially with how vulnerable they looked when they’d said it. “I… Growing up I just buried myself in books and never made time for things that other people learned how to do as a life skill. Swimming, being one of them. I grew up in a coastal town, so it’s not exactly something I’m proud of.”

Sasha stayed sitting where she was situated. The waves that washed over her lower back only punctuated her error in planning. She had organized this event assuming that everyone here would love to go swimming, because that’s what she loved doing. Now here she was, sitting on the border between the land and the sea, realizing that she had brought one of her friends to a barrier they could not surmount. 

A lot of decisions that Jon made these past two week suddenly make a lot of sense. Their excuses to get out of the trip, aversion to actually going in the water, and refusal to let anyone talk them into it. They weren’t just being stuck up and stubborn, they were trying to hide a sensitive part of themself. She hadn’t meant to cause any harm, but here they were.

“I’m sorry if we pressured you into coming and swimming, we only wanted to make sure you were included. If we had known, we would have planned to go somewhere different.” Sasha bit the tip of her thumb and pondered for a bit longer. “Was this the reason that you made such a fuss about not wanting to come?”

Jon waved their hand dismissively. “Pfft, no. That was genuinely me being desperate to keep working nonstop.”

Sasha found comfort in the fact that she was in the right for subjecting Jon to peer pressure for his health. She giggled and smiled at Jon, but they seemed to be more serious than she thought they were. She stopped her laughter and wore a solemn face.

“I don’t want you all to… I want to find out what Prentiss wants, and how we can defend ourselves from her. What you learned about the carbon monoxide was valuable, but I know that there’s something in the archives that can help us.”

“Hold on-” Sasha lifted her hand to indicate for them to stop. “First of all, we agreed not to bring our work baggage to the beach. That includes the statement you recorded earlier.” Jon rolled their eyes. For some reason, this set something off in her. 

“The rule isn’t just for your sake, Jon,” she snapped. She didn’t mean to, but it seems like she had a lot of pent up emotions that she needed to sort through. She took a deep breath, considered her words, and continued. 

“I’ve been scared too. Suddenly your coworker, your  _ friend _ , is trapped in his apartment by a walking corpse of worms. When you try to help, you meet a freaky... headache...  _ monster _ thing, who introduces you to a different bag of worms. And then suddenly it’s telling you that you can save the archives? That puts a lot of stress on a girl, Jon!”

“I-I’m sorry. I erm…” Jon stammers, eyes wide and guilty. It wasn’t their fault, a lot of these things were outside of both of their control. Sasha knew that. They would probably blame themself for this, wouldn’t they?

“It’s okay, I’m just… Tired. I don’t want to think about work because it’s so bloody exhausting doing research on spooky stuff that has almost killed you.” And unlike Jon, who sits behind a desk most of the time, puts her life on the line doing research for a department that didn’t even require that kind of work before they all got transferred. Jon’s charade of disbelief wasn’t doing anything helpful for anyone. Sasha thought this, but she didn’t say it.

“I plan this whole damned event and I still can’t get away from work stress.” Sasha dragged her hands over her face. “And I can’t find reasons to talk to my coworkers about non-work related things when all we talk about is work. The beach only helps a little bit. Not enough.”

Jon didn’t have anything to say in response to this. Instead, they crossed the divide and stepped into the water. They stood beside her, and squatted down so that they were at the same height. “Trying to get away from the stress of work is  _ stressful _ .” Jon huffed and shook their head. “I just bury myself in more of it as a distraction. You’re taking the initiative to change things, and I’m just stuck.”

The sea provided a backdrop to their conversation and filled the gaps in conversation that neither of them could fill. It gave both of them time to think, and enough time for an idea to pop into Sasha’s head.

“You know… It’s never too late to learn a new skill.”

Jon didn’t react right away. They stared off ahead of them before doing a double take at Sasha and squinted. 

“Please, you can’t teach me how to swim in an afternoon.”

Sasha relaxed, relieved that she had managed to lift the mood. She was completely genuine with her offer, too. “Well, yeah, obviously. I meant I could show you the basics. You might not be a pro, but at least you could become more comfortable in the water.”

Jon bit their lip and glanced around. “I doubt that it would be safe to learn in an ocean instead of a swimming pool.” As if to punctuate his point, a larger wave rushed across the shore and onto their backs. Sasha found Jon clinging to her arm to brace themself against the water. When it had receded back into the ocean and gave way to smaller waves, Jon let go of Sasha’s arm and brought both of them back into their own personal space. She smiled.

“Right… If it makes you feel safer, I was a lifeguard back in the day.” She clicked her tongue in her mouth. “I even taught kids!”

What Sasha had thought would convince them led to more uncertainty. Jon’s voice lowered. “Is it my height? I swear, it has to be my height that’s been prompting that comparison all day.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, and you know it. Stop trying to deflect!” Sasha flicked a few water droplets at him and huffed. “You can be infuriating sometimes, you know that?”

Jon turned to face Sasha and looked at her with a smug grin.

“Yes.”

Sasha sighed, frustrated but resigned. “Alright, fine.” Sasha glanced at Jon, who was… smiling. It was a small smile, just the corner of their mouth pulled up, but it was a rare sight for anyone to see. She felt that lightness in her chest again. She wanted to be the one to make them happy, to give them courage, and to give them joy. Cautiously, she asked one more time.

“Can’t I do this for you? As your friend?”

Sasha caught a glimpse of something in their eyes before they turned away. Their brows furrowed, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of this scenario in their head. Sasha tried not to look too excited when they turned to face her again and gave her a quick nod.

“Wonderful!” She said as she stood up from the water. Sand clung irritatingly to the back of her legs and she quickly brushed it off. “Now, the first step to learning how to swim starts with getting used to the water. When you get acquainted to how it feels on your body, then you’ll get more confident when we move on to more swimming techniques.” Jon stood up and hummed in agreement. Following Sasha’s lead, they went further into the ocean.

It was easier for Jon to walk through the water that breached the shore and rushed up the sand. As they traveled further into the ocean, they became more tentative and worried. By the time they had reached the point where the tide reached the edges of his swimming trunks, he stopped. 

“I don’t think I can go much further than this. Erm…”

Sasha held both of her hands out to them. “Would you come and hold hands with me? I can keep you steady.”

Jon stammered, “I-I think it would help.” Sasha wasn’t sure if they knew it themself, but Jon’s hands were shaking ever so slightly as they placed their palms on top of her own. She held them securely, an anchor to the ground amidst the waves. When she gave Jon a reassuring smile she noticed that their face had become a bit darker. She suddenly felt like it wasn’t just the waves that Jon was nervous about.

She led them into the water up to their waist, (which was a bit lower than her own), until she stopped. “Okay, I think this is a good place to get used to the water.” Sasha leaned down and ran her fingers through the water.

“Please don’t splash me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sasha said, but now that they had brought up the subject it was all she could think about. She tried not to let it show in her face, but it was difficult.

“I said  _ don’t, _ ” Jon said sternly.

“You were the one who brought it up!” Sasha allowed herself to grin. “What else am I supposed to do?”

“Not splash me.”

“I  _ won’t _ , trust me. Can I start my lesson now?” Jon nodded, looking very serious. If they had a pen and paper they would have brandished them to take notes.

“Alright, like I said, we should walk around a bit before getting into any swimming techniques.” She began walking through the water, subtly placing herself between the waves and Jon. They walked together down the shoreline, Sasha making sure that Jon was as comfortable as possible. “What do you think is the most challenging part of swimming?”

Jon paused. “I would say… Not breathing water into your lungs if you go underwater.”

Sasha smiled. What Jon didn’t know was that his biggest worry was the second part of the basics of swimming. “That’s an easy one. When you’re ready, we can tackle that one first.”

Jon nodded and continued to walk with her. They seemed focused on their feet below the waves, steadying themself by keeping their hands raised above the water and their arms bent. “...Now that I think of it, isn’t it a little dangerous to give a swim lesson in the ocean?”

Sasha did think of this, which is why she’s probably going to avoid anything like treading water and anything that required you to stagger your breathing. “Yeah, usually people start learning in swimming pools, ponds, and lakes. But I’ll be here for you to make sure nothing happens.” 

They continued to walk together, side by side. The water was rising slightly, but not enough to throw either of them off balance. It was nice, just walking together through the ocean. Sasha made sure to not forget that she was giving Jon a swimming lesson and glanced at them on occasion to make sure that they weren’t losing their confidence or footing. 

Over time, Jon’s body became more relaxed until they came to a stop. “I think I’m ready.”

Sasha stopped beside them and nodded. “Good! So you know the water intimately now?”

Jon replied with a bit of humor in their voice. “I don’t think I can take the ocean to dinner.”

Sasha snorted. “Don’t tell sapphic poets you said that. Anyways, I want you to try something for me, okay? Take a big breath for me, big enough so that you fill up your lungs entirely.” Jon complied. “Now, hold your mouth shut and try to breath in from your nose.” Jon nodded, but furrowed their eyebrows and wiggled uncomfortably. “Okay, now breathe out.” Jon released the air from their lungs and hung their head.

“I couldn’t do it.”

Sasha clapped her hands together. “No, you did perfectly!” Jon stared at Sasha with scrutiny as she explained. “You weren’t actually able to breathe in any air from your nose when your lungs were already filled up with air. In this way, your lungs protect you from accidentally inhaling water while you’re underwater. The only direction your breathing can take is out.” 

Sasha submerged her face underwater for seven seconds and then came up again, making note to breathe out to show what she meant. When it was Jon’s turn to go underwater for the first time Sasha made sure that they wouldn’t be hit by a big wave. They certainly were right; learning how to swim in the ocean added a lot of obstacles that she never had to work with before. When Jon came out of the water, they looked at Sasha with a glimmer of excitement in their eyes. 

“I actually did it… haha! I did it! What’s next?” It finally hit her that this was the first time Jon has done so many things in the water, and how much courage it took them to get to this point in the first place. Jon eagerly awaited Sasha’s next instruction.

Sasha continued. “Next lesson, connected to the one you just aced! Your lungs provide you with two natural life vests. When they’re completely filled up with air, they help you stay afloat. Now, I want you to try something with me. You ready?”

“What is it?”

She squatted down and pulled her arms up to her knees. “I’m going to ball myself up and stay face down underwater, and you’re going to push me down under the waves. It’ll be completely safe. Remember, my lungs can keep me afloat if I fill them up. Got it?”

Jon nodded. Sasha took a big gulp of air and lurched forward. She floated up to the top of the water and she waited for Jon to push her under, counting in her head how long she could stay underwater. Jon’s push was very light at first, and Sasha had half of a mind to come up early to tell them to push her under the waves. But they pushed her again, and she actually went deeper into the water this time. She floated gently to the top of the waves. Jon pushed her down again, and again she came up. 

A bigger wave came by and swept her towards the shoreline, but she stayed tight in her ball and stayed afloat. Sasha heard Jon call her name worriedly and she emerged to see if they were still okay. The wave had brought her a little bit away from Jon, who smiled in relief when they saw that she was alright. They had stayed in the same spot that she left them in, successfully bracing themself against the wave.

“Glad to see you’re still hanging in there.” Sasha said with a smile. “Your turn.” 

Jon got ready and curled themself into a ball. “This is going to be incredibly ridiculous.” 

“You told Martin to T pose earlier,” Sasha pointed out. Jon just sighed and ducked underwater. 

They were a quick learner; only a bit uncertain at times. The more time they spent in the water, the more comfortable they became. They mastered the starfish float easily. Sasha had held both of their hands as they stayed afloat face down in the water. When they emerged, they eagerly awaited the next lesson. Her normal routine required a dock or the edge of the pool to practice kicking in the water, but she supposes that she could extend her forearm for Jon to brace themself against. 

She was distracted from her thoughts when she realised that Jon and her were still holding hands. She could feel her face begin to blush no matter how much she willed for it to not happen. Jon seemed to notice too, and they yanked their hands away and looked anywhere that wasn’t Sasha. She felt her heart sink, but mentally smacked herself for indulging in those feelings more than she wanted to, and more than what Jon was comfortable with.

Then, Sasha caught something out of the corner of her eye. Martin! She was extremely grateful to see him emerging from the water further down the shore by the beach towels; something to distract from the awkwardness between them. The tide must have risen a lot since they started their swim lesson because their towels were much closer than she remembered. 

She waved at Martin and started walking towards him. “Hey, Martin!”

Martin whipped his head around at the sound of her voice and started making his way across the beach towards the two of them. “Hi, Sasha! Hi Jon!” They met each other halfway, now back on land. “I didn’t expect to see you swimming, to be honest-” Jon glared at him. “Well, you seemed more like a lounger than a swimmer, and you did make a point to not go into the water, so I… yeah! Anyways,” Martin recovered from his own slip up and threw a thumbs up behind him. “I was just going over to get the cucumber sandwiches I packed earlier. I suppose we should have them sometime soon, yeah?” 

Sasha could definitely go for some food right now. It’s about time they convened together for some lunch. Not to mention this chapter was pretty long and should probably wrap up soon. One thing seemed out of place, though.

“Where’s Tim?” Sasha asked Martin.

“Oh, he was following me to the shore just now. He was the one who suggested we dive into the food just now, heh!” Martin let out a short laugh and looked around him, eyes suddenly wide. 

Oh no.

Sasha felt something drop in her stomach. It felt as though someone had punched her in her chest, and her heartbeat was painfully pounding out of it.

“Martin,  _ where’s Tim. _ ”

Martin did not hide the shared panic in his face. “I-I-I just saw him, he was right behind me!”

No…

Jon’s question was more of an accusation. “Martin, you  _ lost Tim in the water? _ ”

**_NO._ **

Tim would be alright, he HAD to be! She was NOT going to have a meltdown; she was going to find Tim and everything would be fine. She KNEW how to do this, she’s TRAINED for this scenario, she was SUPPOSED to keep her eye on the water around her at all times and she couldn’t even do THAT right. She was supposed to PROTECT everyone, she was supposed to make sure that everyone was happy and that couldn’t happen when one of them was DEAD. 

She didn’t realise she was saying any of her thoughts out loud until she heard her consoling friends. Martin’s voice came first. “Sasha, everything is going to be okay, we can work out a solution together.”

No no no… She’s wasting time.

Jon cautiously placed their hand on Sasha’s arm, right below where her scar was. “We’re going to find Tim, but we need to- we have to stay calm-” Sasha slapped their hand away from her skin. 

“Don’t TOUCH me-” She wouldn’t apologize for that, rash as it was. “I have to- I…” She couldn’t finish, but she was sure that they knew what she meant. 

Before anyone could stop her, she ran down the beach. Her eyes shot wildly around the water, looking for something, ANYTHING, that could let her know that Tim was okay. 

She stopped in front of the beach towels. She could see Tim’s boogie board washed up a few meters away, which meant that they were in the general direction of where they were swimming before. The last time that Sasha saw them. It would NOT be the last time. She would make sure of that.

“Sasha, wait!” Jon’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Jon and Martin were running after her, having a harder time catching their breath than she was. “Sasha, I-” Jon wheezed more than they could speak.

“What?! Spit it out!!” She grimaced at her own response. It wasn’t Jon’s fault. She didn’t mean to lash out, she was just desperate. She was scared and so, SO afraid.

Jon finally managed to choke out the words, “I saw something in the water.” They pointed towards the ocean. Sasha followed the direction and scanned for any pieces of bright color. 

Her stomach lurched when she saw a speck of pink floating amidst the riptide. 

“I’m going to phone an ambulance,” Jon said as they rushed off to their bag.

She fought back tears, fearing for the worst. “They won’t come fast enough!” She shouted and used her pounding heart to spring herself into action. One thing she could thank her anxiety for was a wonderful headstart for her fight-or-flight response.

She sprinted to the boogie board and scooped it up, holding it under her arm. In an ideal scenario she would have a proper floatation device, but this was not an ideal scenario. She blocked out all noises around her as she ran into the water. 

The water droplets felt sharp against her legs and face, struggling to fight against the waves. When it became too much to run through them, she got on top of the boogie board and started paddling. The whole time, she did not let Tim out of her sight.

The waves were tough for her to travel through. What was Tim thinking swimming through these? Why didn’t Martin talk him out of it before they got too rough? 

She could see the details of Tim’s face peeking out from the water. His hands weakly splashing out from below the surface at a feeble attempt of staying afloat. She wanted to shout at him, to see his eyes open and show some sign of life, but she knew that would only make things worse. Focusing on her training and everything she learned about rescuing drowning victims, she kept swimming closer and closer...

Almost…

YES!

Tim only reacted slightly to Sasha’s arrival, struggling to hold on to his consciousness. It was alright, though. Sasha had enough relief in her heart for the both of them.

Without wasting any time, she told Tim, “It’s Sasha, I’m here to help.” It was a rehearsed phrase that she used to make sure victims stayed calm and avoided asking any questions themselves. 

No, Tim would not become a victim.

Sasha worked quickly. She hoisted Tim’s body on top of the boogie board and turned him so that he was facing the shore. She uses a sidestroke to bring Tim back to the shore. 

As she got closer, she could hear Jon saying things about how this wouldn’t have been an issue if he hadn’t gone into the water and if he hadn’t turned off his phone. Sasha was unsure if this was complaining or self-blame. Martin’s voice could be heard mixed in with their own panic. 

“...calming down before, but your anxiety is making MY anxiety worse and now- Sasha! Tim!” Martin gasped and ran over to them both.

Martin and Jon hovered around the two of them, not daring to try and interfere. Jon was in the middle of frantically trying to type in their phone’s password but their hands weren’t steady enough. Martin was chewing his nails to stubs.

When Sasha pulled Tim onto the shore, he wasn't moving anymore. 

Shit.

If any water got into Tim’s lungs, then he would need hospitalization. She didn’t know if she could live with herself if she was the cause of that.

First, she had to make sure that Tim needed CPR. She opened his mouth to check if he had something lodged in his throat. Nothing. For a second she thought she saw the edges of Tim’s mouth twitch upwards, but maybe that was just her hopeful thinking. She pressed her ear to Tim’s chest to check his heartbeat and there was nothing abnormal. It wasn’t until she was in the middle of checking his pulse that she realized what was happening. 

“Tim.”

No response. 

“Tim, get up. You’re fine.”

Finally, she heard Tim mumble something. Martin and Jon leaned in behind her, holding their collective breath to hear what he was trying to say. The drama of the moment wouldn’t last. In this moment, Sasha was a no-nonsense girl.

“What was that? I can’t hear you,” she taunted.

Tim’s mumbles finally grew into something more intelligible. “I’m in… desperate need of CPR from… a hot beach babe…”

Sasha sighed; a mix of exasperation for her partner’s antics and relief that he was alive.

“Not you, Sasha? Heh… if not you, then is any other babe willing?” Tim’s eyes fluttered open glancing at Jon and lingering on Martin.

A cacophony of coughs stopped Tim from flirting any further. 

Despite what he said, he clearly hadn’t faked his near-drowning experience to get a kiss. All three of them looked down at him in concern. None of them had seen Tim this battered until that point and none of them knew how exactly they should react. It was a comfort to know that he was at least healthy enough to make jokes.

“Yeah, no. That sucked.” Tim coughed again. “I definitely won’t be swimming in the deep end anytime soon.” 

_ ‘Please don’t, you lovely idiot.’ _ Sasha thought to herself. 

She didn’t have any more energy after what she’d just done, and the adrenaline of the situation was wearing off. Her muscles were sore, her mind was exhausted, her eyes ached, and she still hadn’t eaten lunch yet. The only thing she had energy to do was hold Tim’s face in her hands and press her forehead to his.

“I, uh… I don’t mean to interrupt, but...” Jon held up their phone and asked, “Would you still need me to phone an ambulance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's [desert-lily's](https://desert-lily.tumblr.com/post/636671081163423744/moodboard-for-tma-265-beach-episode-by),  
> second moodboard! It's very lovely and I hope you like it too.  
> 
> 
> My subconscious mind picked a statement about The Buried for the chapter where Tim almost drowns because drowning is a part of The Buried that a lot of people overlook, and- 
> 
> ANYWAYS, sorry for being late with this chapter! The holidays are always really hectic for me, and on top of that, I share a birthday with my niece on the 28th so I didn't finish on the 26th like I planned. The last chapter was scheduled to be posted on January 9th, but since I am a bit behind it might take a bit longer to finish than anticipated. Or maybe I could try to write a shorter chapter next time lol. Tell me what you want to see next! a lot of the last chapter is very vaguely outlined so I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
> 
> But either way! Happy late Christmas (If you celebrate), Joyous Kwanzaa (If you celebrate), and Happy late Birthday to me! (you must celebrate, you have no choice)


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